Runaway Love
by The Sunny Days
Summary: He already had my heart and if he wanted he could have my body and soul too. He was my love, my addiction, my obsession, my sickness. I would do anything that would make him happy even dying. "I...I love you" I whispered brokenly. Full Summary Inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Bella and Jasper have been best friends since they met when he was 11 and she was 10. Bella begins to fall in love with Jasper but he doesn't seem to notice her. She moves to Forks and they meet Alice who joins their little group as does Edward who is Jasper's cousin. Unable to see things clearly chances go by and people get hurt. When Jasper takes an interest in Alice and they start dating will Bella be able to stand back and watch or will Edward fight and convince her he's the one for her? Will she find the strength to save herself and let go before it's too late?**

**All human Bella is a little OOC but her balance gets better. R&R**

**All links on my profile**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 1**

I've always been a shy person. The kind that would sit at the back of the class with her head down, walk around alone and blend into the background. So quiet that you forget they were even there. That was until I met him. Jasper Whitlock. Best friend extraordinaire. We had an odd friendship yet one filled with so much trust it was unbelievable.

It all began one day in August, I had been visiting Charlie like I had done every summer for two weeks, since my mother and him divorced when I was a baby. Thiers had been a whirlwind romance fresh out of high school, pregnant with his kid, Renee felt trapped in Forks and eventually she escaped. Taking me along for the ride.

We were on our way to the Grocery store as Charlie had no food in the house. I was in the drinks part of the store when I slipped on some liquid and fell into someone sending them flying to the ground as well. We landed in a heap on the floor and when I tried to stand up I fell back on the stranger who was trying to stand up as well sending us back to the ground. I'm not surprised after all me and the ground are practically best friends with the amount of time I spend lying on it.

I heard a grunting sound and soon I was looking at a pair of legs. The stranger had gotten up and put their hand out for me. I grabbed it and the person pulled me up. I stumbled but managed to steady myself. My cheeks had turned a bright red that I'm sure was permanent; I was staring at my feet like they were the most interesting ever.

My head shot up when I heard a low chuckling and I stared wide eyed at the stranger. He had honey blond hair that fell in curls all round his head and as he continued chuckling a piece of hair fell in front of his face and he opened his eyes. I was instantly captivated. They were a deep blue almost green colour that reminded me of the ocean. Not the Atlantic Ocean that people liked to go scuba diving in, no, but the Pacific Ocean that was deeper than you can imagine.

He kept looking at me like he was staring into my soul before I turned my head unable to stay under his stare anymore. Then I heard him.

"Hi. I'm Jasper Whitlock. It's nice to meet you" his voice was like velvet and he had a southern drawl that I'm sure no woman could resist.

I looked back at him and saw he was waiting for me to reply.

"I'm Bella...." which was all I could get out before Charlie called my name and I had to leave.

I turned to leave but as I was walking away I heard a whispered 'Bella...' that voice haunted my dreams that night.

xXx

That wasn't the last time I saw Jasper. It turns out Charlie usually goes round their house for Sunday brunch, but this time he invited them round to ours after asking me to cook. I didn't know that it was Jasper coming round because all he said was that a Peter and Charlotte were coming round with their son. So imagine my surprise when I open the door - wearing a vintage blue dress– to see Jasper on the other side. I could tell he wasn't as surprised to see me as I was to see him. Luckily Charlie came to my rescue before I could do anything to embarrass myself.

All in all the brunch was a success though it was awkward to begin with. The parents exchanged greetings but I just stood off to the side, well I did until Charlie pushed me forward and introduced me. I was then swept up into a hug by Charlotte. She was gorgeous and looked like a model. She had waist long blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, Peter on the other hand was dark haired with emerald green eyes.

I could see where Jasper got his looks from he was the perfect blend of the two of them he had his mothers calm aura and smiling eyes whereas he had his fathers strong jaw, height and crooked smile. His eyes and hair were a mix of the two and it would be hard to deny that he was their child.

After the introductions were made Charlie and I led them towards our dining table. I could feel eyes on me but restrained myself from looking back. I had already laid out the food all that was left was to serve it. It was a traditional Sunday brunch with all the trimmings.

As we ate Charlotte took it upon her to ask me questions the first one being 'Is your dress vintage' that led us onto a whole conversation about where we can find the best types of dresses where we got these ones. The guys were happily carrying out a conversation on baseball and fishing, soon after that Charlotte got involved and I was left silent until I felt a tap on my leg. I was confused until I looked up and saw Jasper smiling at me; his eyes looked like they'd been lit up by the sun and I was momentarily transfixed on the cute little scar he had at the top of his right eye.

He mouthed 'Do you want to go outside and talk' so we did. We talked and talked about anything and everything. I don't know how long we were out there it could have been minutes or hours for all I cared. Time had absolutely no meaning to me. I was lost in the sea of his eyes, mesmerised by the wistful tone of his voice as he talked about his hometown in Texas.

All in all I found out he was 11, was born on the 17th of February, was starting Middle school in September, his favourite colours greens and he can play guitar as well as a bunch of other stuff.

They stayed until the end of the baseball game then they left. I spent everyday after that hanging out with Jasper, then on my last day, right before Charlie drove me to the airport we promised to be best friends forever and we exchanged emails and numbers. He gave me his guitar his prized possession, he told me that he wanted me to know he was serious about our friendship. So I gave him my ring. It had an inscription in Chinese on it and though I didn't know what it meant it was important that I gave it to him. Grandma Swan had given it to me when I was 7 years old when Charlie and I had gone to see her in the retirement home she was living in. She gave it to me and told me that when I felt it was right I should let it to. I didn't understand at first and told her I was confused.

She smiled and said I would one day, she told me and Charlie she loved us and we said it back to her and in that moment I truly believed those words. I wasn't just saying it to be politely but because it was really true. We promised to come pick her up the next day for a lunch date. Early next morning I couldn't sleep so I went downstairs, Charlie was there as well so he made us both hot chocolate with marshmallows –one of the only things he can make- and we sat waiting for them to cool.

The phone started to ring and I answered it the conversation went like this:

**Me: **"Hello, who is this?"

**Caller: **"Good morning this is Doctor North from Seattle General hospital, I apologise for calling you so early but I have some bad news for you"

By now I had put the phone on loud speaker.

**Me: **"What do you mean?"

**Doctor North: **"I'm sorry to say this but...Mrs Anita Swan is dead"

That was all I heard before I was swept under by the darkness.

I awoke to a frantic Charlie and several other faces. At first the faces were a blur but soon I recognised some guys I had met when Charlie and I had visited La Push. I couldn't believe that Grandma was dead, she couldn't be. I had just seen her less than 24 hours ago. She was healthy, strong, fit and didn't take crap from anyone she couldn't be dead, but as I met Charlie's silent gaze, I got all the confirmation I needed and my body was soon enveloped in wave upon wave of sadness. Tears streaked down my face in long lines.

My body was shaking and I felt cold despite the room being so warm. I shivered and my teeth started chattering. Then I heard it. The scream was ear piercing and loud. It was like a high pitched shrieking sound and reminded me of nails on a chalkboard.

When Charlie put his arm round me the sound got louder and he moved away. That was when I realised who was making it, me. My sobs got louder and I struggled to breathe. In the background I heard someone say they should move me to my room and then I was being carried. I had never been particularly close to my grandmother, probably because of how often Renee and I moved round, but I tried to get in touch whenever I could.

Someone placed me on the bed and held my hand and eventually I wore myself out and succumbed to the darkness that was my sleep. Still I did not find relief. I was plagued with memories of her, of running to her but being unable to reach her no matter how fast I went.

The funeral was a blur. I cried and I read a poem out about her. Charlie said a few words as well but for the life of me I couldn't remember. A eulogy was said and everyone came to our house for the wake. I still couldn't believe she was gone. Each day after that I was haunted with a new thing I would miss about her. First it was her ginger nut cookies, then it was her smile, on the final day it was how she smelled and the warmth of her hugs.

Charlie had called Renee to tell her what happened; when I got there Renee took one look at me and forbade me from going back to Forks. That night I lay in my bed and listened to her shouting at Charlie over the phone telling him he was never going to see me again, forbidding him from visiting. I lay awake and silently cried.

That wasn't the last time I cried for her. Two years later I broke down at home one morning when I saw the date. Two years since she died. Two years since I last saw her face. I cried some more when I realised I couldn't remember her voice. That was how I was found by Renee. Curled up in a tight ball in the middle of the bathroom. Red circles round my eyes and an even redder nose.

The next time I saw Charlie it had been 3 years.

Charlie drove me to the airport and this time made me promise to come back and I did. Back in Phoenix, Jasper and I would talk on the phone everyday until Renee lowered it down to once a week saying I was neglecting my other friends. The truth was I didn't really have other friends, there were girls who I went around with but I wouldn't exactly call them friends.

One day Renee and I went bungee jumping. She got hurt and we ended up in hospital. Phil was also in hospital because his friend had broken his leg. It was an instant connection. At first I thought it was just a brief period of infatuation that she was going through. Just like all the other hundreds of guys who had passed through our house over the years, so many that I didn't even bother learning their names referring to them as simply 'Skipper' Renee had accepted this, but the first night Phil came to pick her up she was adamant that I called him by his name. I realised then she wouldn't be getting over him.

Despite the age gap, Phil was an overall nice guy. He didn't mind that Renee already had a kid all that Renee was flighty and over zealous. A good example of this was that one night I awoke to a light being put on, a suitcase being chucked on the bed and clothes being thrown into it. Turns out Renee and Phil were getting married on a Palm Beach in Hawaii. Renee had just forgotten to tell me I was the bridesmaid and that she was getting married to begin with.

It was a beautiful ceremony with the natives acting as witnesses and me being her-their only relative.

Another good thing about Phil was that he accepted her the way she was and didn't try to lecture or change her. Also every time she suddenly got the urge for a new hobby he went along with it and looked after her. Meaning I didn't have to.

So when I was 13 and pitched the idea to her that I wanted to move to Forks to live with Charlie she was a little more offended than I thought she would have been. Phil is a minor league baseball player and they will be moving around a lot so in order to give the happy couple some alone time, I wanted to spend some time with my dad.

She tried to convince me not to but it was where my heart lay. She booked me a flight and the next time, when I went to visit Charlie in the holidays. I didn't leave. I was home.

**Well tell me what you think and whether I should keep writing or not. Remember this is just the back story to set everything in motion so you can find out a bit about her. The next chapter should be up in a day or two and we meet Alice. Plenty of Angst, Drama and Romance to come. R&R**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while I've been busy with Exams and studying but that's over now. I'll work hard to try and get Chapter 3 up for you today or tomorrow. I wanted to get Alice in now, but the whole day was taken up with Bella and I didn't want it to get any longer so Alice will be in the next Chapter.**

**Just so you don't get confused Jasper is older than Bella as her birthday is in September so she is a year behind him. Jasper is now 15 and Bella will be turning 14 when she starts school.**

**All links on profile including Charlotte's car and their outfits**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 2**

"It's going to be alright, you'll fit in perfectly" Jasper said as he perched on the edge of my bed. He'd been there for the past hour trying to quell my fears on starting a new school. Jasper couldn't say that as he had been there for 4 years already.

"No it's not going to be ok, people are going to stare at me and you know how much I hate being in the centre of attention" I replied throwing a pillow at his head but due to bad coordination it missed the target by a land mile and landed on the ground instead.

"Your just exaggerating" I shot him an incredulous look "Ok, ok your right but I'll be with you. I promise to never leave you" He sounded so sincere it was hard not to believe him.

"Do you mean it? Because you know how it would look if you were hanging out with someone younger than you" I said in a small voice casting my eyes to my hands which were fiddling with the duvet cover.

"Yeah I do Bella...Bella" I felt hands grasp my chin and felt it being lifted but still I continued to avert my eyes "Bella look at me" he pleaded.

I looked at him. His eyes were sparkling, the truth shining bright in them. Today they were a beautiful sea green colour. They were so deep and so full of knowledge and secrets yet so open and wide dancing with true happiness and something else which I couldn't identify.

"I swear on my life that you're more important to me than any of those jerks at school. I'd choose you over any of them any day....no really Bella" he said after seeing the shocked look on my face.

"Your my best friend Bells" he continued "I'll always protect you" he added in a whisper

"Your my best friend too Jazz. Forever" I asked sticking out my pinky finger to him, childish maybe but it was a pact.

"Forever" he answered hooking his finger with mine and I knew it was true. Me and Jazz against the world.

xXx

It was the first day back to school for most people but my first day starting Forks High School. It looked like an institution. It looked grey and the whole building looked bleak and seemed to loom over you. The sun was hidden behind a cloud but you could still feel it radiating against your skin. Most people turned to stare as Charlotte's car pulled into the parking lot. I didn't blame them it was a Bugatti Veyron and you just didn't see that kind of car here.

More stares turned towards the car as Jasper stepped out. I didn't blame them he looked as sexy as sin dressed in dark washed ripped jeans that he accidentally made, a scruffy bullet for my valentine t-shirt, leather jacket and converses. He had the essential bad boy look down to an art.

I dressed like the female version of his outfit exchanging the jeans for shorts, a paramore shirt and I also wore a black jacket to complete the outfit; all in all we had the entire student body staring at us.

"Just walk on and don't look at anyone. I'm going to take you to the office" he whispered in my ear. Feeling the whisper of his breath against my neck sent shivers down my spine. The hairs on the back of my neck stood to alert and I was a little to aware of the how close his body was to mine.

We made the dreaded walk and it was like we were walking to our doom, Jasper had slung his arms casually around my shoulders and was shouting out the occasional 'Hi', 'Hey' and 'how's it going?' to people as we passed. People stared whispered to their friends and stared some more. They had cleared a path for us, people parting like the Red Sea for Moses. It would be almost funny if I wasn't so embarrassed.

By the time we reached the office my face was as red as a tomato but that could have been from the trek there or the hot air blowing from the vents in office. There was a lady sat behind the front desk a name plate in front of her read 'Mrs Cope' We walked up to her and Jasper cleared his throat she looked up with an annoyed expression until she caught sight of Jasper. She clearly wasn't worried about the age gap judging by the way she began fluffing up her red hair and sticking out her chest.

"Good Morning Mrs Cope" Jasper drawled putting his Southern Charm on full force. Mrs Cope looked lost for words and just like that she was like putty in his hands like so many other unsuspecting females.

"H-hello Jasper. How are you?" she managed to stutter out.

"I'm fine. This is Isabella Swan. She's a new student here and I was wondering if you could give us her schedule." He replied. I frowned at the use of my full name but knew not much could be done about it.

"Umm okay here you go Isabella. You need to get your teachers to sign this card and hand it to me at the end of the day. Now, is there _anything_ I could do for you Jasper?" she added suggestively not even being subtle about the fact she wanted to jump him and probably would if there wasn't a desk separating them and the fact that her legs might not carry her that far.

We said thank you to her and stepped away from the desk Jasper was studying my schedule like a doctor might study a patient during an operation. He glanced up at me and I saw a smile on his face, probably meaning I had a lot of classes with him.

He showed it to me and my lessons went like this:

-Period 1: English (Mr Mason)

-Period 2: Trigonometry

-Period 3: Spanish (Senorita Gonzalez)

Lunch

-Period 5: Biology (Mr Banner)

-Period 6: Art

-Period 7: Music

-Period 8: Gym (Coach Clapp)

It seemed pretty good except for gym. In Phoenix we only had to complete two years but here it was required to do all four years. Jasper led me outside and round the building to a room marked room 3 this was one lesson we didn't have together whilst I had chosen English, Jasper had chosen History. He was always interested in it but after finding out that one of his ancestors had fought in the Civil War and was one of the youngest Major's ever at only 20 years old. His name had been William Whitlock and it was who he was named after. He lied about his age to get into the army due to his natural charisma he moved quickly through the ranks. Jasper had made it his life's mission to find out as much about it as possible.

As I walked into the English room I noticed all eyes turn and focus on me. I handed the slip of yellow paper to Mr Mason to get signed he glanced at it then at me his eyes widened slightly before narrowing. His eyes had turned into slits and it was clear we were not going to get along.

He signed it roughly and grunted that I should sit where ever when I asked; I walked to an empty table at the back of the room and was happy to know I wouldn't be taking anyone's seat as it was the first day back to school. I sat down putting my bag on the other chair signifying I wanted to be alone. The reason I sat at the back was to avoid everyone's stares, so I'm not sure how they managed to continue to gawp at me but they did.

The lesson passed in a blur we were reading one of Shakespeare's famous plays Romeo and Juliet. I loved the book. I had watched the movie several times and practically knew the lines by heart. I pulled out my tattered copy of Wuthering Heights and read away when the lesson finished Mr Mason dismissed us with a simple read the next two chapters of the book and be ready to discuss why Shakespeare has written it like this and how Romeo's actions impacted Juliet.

I walked out of the class room only to see Jasper leaning casually against the wall outside waiting for me. He had a lop sided grin in place his eyes were dancing in mischief and I felt my heart beat slightly faster.

"How was lesson Bella?" he asked casually as he slung his arm round my shoulders and guided us through the mass of bodies battling to get to their classrooms. People stared but it wasn't as bad as this morning. Girls and some boys looked on with envy because I was so close to Jasper. Guys looked on with an equal mixture of hate and admiration for Jasper.

"It was alright just Romeo and Juliet" I replied being careful not to trip over my feet.

"So you'll ace it then, right?" Jasper asked with a cheeky grin. He stopped outside a door announcing to me that this was Trigonometry and also one of the lessons we had together. "Ready" he asked as he opened the door and guided me inside. The teacher Mr Varner was writing the lesson syllabus on the board but turned when we entered. I handed him my slip and the process began again Jasper led me a seat and I sat down and endured the hour.

We were watching a movie in lesson today so Jasper decided to take the opportunity to talk to me. I could feel the whisper of his breath brushing against my neck; his body was radiating heat that was flooding my cheeks with red. His fingers were rubbing circles on my palm sending shocks of lightening up my spine.

All too soon the movie was over and the overhead fluorescent lights were on. Jasper helped me out my seat and led me to Spanish were Senorita Gonzalez would teach me for the next hour. I enjoyed Spanish it was one thing I was definitely good at apart Art and Guitar. Learning to speak a language was Renee's idea. I was going to pick my classes when I had food poisoning and couldn't get around without emptying the contents of my stomach. I gave her a list of classes that I wanted and told her to give the list to them. Sadly, Renee never listens and decided to exchange my Government class for Spanish and Phil, bless his heart, tried to stop her but when she's got an idea in her head come hell and high water she can't be stopped.

I'm kind of thankful to her. I took to the language easily and enjoy the way the 'rrrr's' roll off my tongue. By the time Spanish had finished I had almost forgotten how affected by Jasper I had been. _Almost _being the keyword.

Jasper was waiting for me outside ready to lead me to Lunch. I was positively hungry seeing as I had only eaten a pop tart this morning because of how nervous I was and even now there were butterflies in my stomach. We sat down at a big table that had a few other people sitting on it I recognised a few people from my lessons. I met a girl in my Spanish class called Angela Weber, turns out she was also in my English and Trig class but I had been too preoccupied to notice her and that was kind of hard seeing how tall she was, but she actually seemed like a genuinely nice person unlike the other girl I met Jessica Stanley who was too loud, too fake and dressed in far too little. Her friend Lauren didn't seem to like me either judging by the sneer on her face one that was almost identical when she saw how close Jasper and I were.

Judging by Jessica's face she didn't seem too happy and I guessed that they probably had there eye on him and I didn't blame them. His honey blonde hair, blue-green eyes and southern drawl was enough to make any girl swoon add that with his crooked grin and honey voice then that girl's panties fell with her.

Next period Jasper and I weren't in the same class but Mike was and boy was he eager to take me there. He reminded me of a lost puppy and now that I was with him he really didn't want to go, which was why when Mr Banner assigned me to sit at a table myself, I couldn't get away fast enough.

Biology was a boring affair seeing as how I was working by myself I got the work done quickly and spent the rest of the lesson reading. There wasn't any homework and I was excited to get to my next lesson Music. Ever since Jasper had given me his guitar all those years ago, I had a new appreciation for music. I begged Renee for lessons and though she was against it, stereotypically believing that guys played guitar she still got Phil to fork out the cash for it.

The lessons stopped after a 2 months. One of Renee's friends had a son. His name was Travis. He was the typical rock star kind of guy, always had girls drooling over him and had probably broken as many hearts. He was in a band he had started with his friends when he was 13 they were called Monster Override. They were pretty talented although I had only ever seen them play once.

Renee was going to pay him to teach me guitar claiming that it was cheaper and that in this bad economy we should at least be trying to save money, yet that didn't stop her from spending plenty on designer clothing and accessories. If there was ever a time when I wanted to hate Renee it was because of him.

Starting from when I was 11 ½ and he was 15 I was to meet him at his house every Saturday morning from 11 am – 12 pm conveniently his parents were never home, his mother doing Yoga and his father at the Gym. It had all started out innocently, a game he said. Casual strokes along my thighs, brushes against my cheek and a promise that he would never hurt me.

Each week he went a little further, he started telling me he only wanted me to wear skirts and dresses when I came. After the first month I knew something was wrong when he grabbed me round the waist as I was bending down to pick up my guitar, and pressed himself against me. He said it would be 'our little secret.'

I got scared but who could I tell he made sure to tell me that no one would believe me and he was right. He was the dutiful son always getting good grades, polite to people and even offering to give up his Saturday morning's to teach an 11 ½ year old guitar. He was a Saint in everyone's eyes and when I tried to tell Renee she didn't believe me, soon after that I got her to stop the lessons. I couldn't handle the way he was treating me anymore.

That summer when I went to visit Charlie, I told Jasper and he confirmed my suspicions that it wasn't right. He said that I did the right thing and that he would teach me guitar instead and that was exactly how I spent the rest of the summer and I mean all of it, perched on the edge of a bed, with Jasper showing me how to play.

In just two weeks with Jasper, I learnt more than anything Travis had ever shown me. Watching Jasper play was beautiful, his calloused fingers would gently strum the guitar in a melody, his eyes would be closed and he would be singing along very quietly, so quiet that if you breathed you may end up missing it.

I remember one particular day when Jasper was playing for me, the sun came out the clouds for a moment and the light shone down on him, making him look like an angel sent down from heaven. My very own Guardian Angel, because that's what he was my angel.

I walked into the music classroom my guitar perched on my back, Jasper walked in behind me soon after. There were only about 6 students all together so we were just told to get on with composing and writing. We were told that we needed to create a new piece by December for an assessment but that was all mainly the teacher just left us alone.

I found a table in the corner and brought out my sheet paper and lyric notebook. Jasper perched on a table not too far from mine. He turned to look at me and smiled. _And don't mind me if I get weak in the knees, cause you have that affect on me_ words flooded through my head and I hurried to write them down. I brought my guitar out of its case and began to strum softly on it a tune entering my head.

That's how the rest of the lesson went, I worked alone as did Jasper, but there was a connection between us and for that I was happy to know that he was close by.

As Music finished we headed to Art another one if my favourite lessons. I enjoyed being able to just let go and draw whatever then to see what it looked like afterwards. I had never really been interested in drawing until one day when I was so sad. Phil didn't know why I was crying and didn't ask when I had asked about it later he had replied 'It was up to you whether to tell me or not and you eventually did' he simply handed me a pad of blank paper and a pencil and told me to draw whatever I wanted, that I should just do what my heart told me to.

After that I started buying magazines on how to draw and fir my birthday he gave me a sketch book and a pencil set. It was the best I got. Renee said she didn't get my drawings; that they were just a bunch of lines and that Phil shouldn't waste his hard earned money on useless things like that.

The lesson was good. We were going to have to draw and paint a self portrait, but that it should reflect how we see ourselves and also how others see you. Jasper had really gotten into it, sketching out different ideas that he could use. The lesson was a success and I felt really good by the time we left, though I hadn't really gotten anywhere it was nice to finally have a pencil in my hand again. I'd really missed the feeling.

Gym. I hated this lesson with a passion. If it wasn't so bad that I hurt myself on a daily basis, I had to try and pass another test from Mother Nature. As it was my first lesson I didn't have to do anything but sit and watch. I remembered all the injuries I had sustained and given out by playing volley ball. They were playing for simultaneous games of volley ball with one team resting and I knew it would be a disaster should they let me on the court. Jasper was currently playing and boy was he good. Every time he jumped his shirt would ride up a little and it exposed his gloriously tan skin which was a little funny as there was no sun in Forks.

One of the teams was off and a gangly boy with skin problems and hair black as an oil slick plonked down next to me on my seat on the bench.

"Your Isabella Swan, right" he asked hopefully

"Bella" I corrected. He was one of the few people brave enough to talk to me the rest just happily stared on.

"I'm Eric Yorkie. What's your next class, I could show you there if you want?"

Before I could answer I was yanked up and an arm was flung round my shoulder. I looked up and into the face of a furious Jasper Whitlock. "No Yorkie" he spat "I can easily take her around but thanks for your concern" and with that he turned us around and started walking away. He told me to wait for him outside the boy's changing room, so I had to endure having several startled boys eyeing me weirdly as I waited.

As I walked out the door with Jasper I knew this was something I could get used to having. The next few weeks passed by in a blur and Christmas was soon on the horizon. Occasionally someone would stare at us but that was mainly because of Jasper. He was amazing, though he had his own friends he never neglected me and that was what I loved most about him. He promised to protect me and he did.

**Well that's Chapter 2 done. I'm hoping to get Chapter 3 out today fingers crossed. Alice will hopefully be in the next one or so as well Bella's birthday. Let's see how beautifully disastrous that's going to be also, Bella's birthday might just take up an entire Chapter. I think Christmas will be Chapter 3, Chapter 4 meeting Alice, then Chapter 5 Bella's birthday. I'll try to be posting every 1-2 days. R&R and if you think this story's good tell your friends.**

**~_The Sunny Days~_**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to anyone who has reviewed my story so far. I have already started Chapter 4 and hope to have it out tomorrow or the day after.**

**Jasper is now 16 and Bella is 15. Sorry about any spelling mistakes as I don't have a Beta.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story**

**Runaway Love **

**Chapter 3**

It was 3 weeks to Christmas and I had no plans. Well it wasn't that there were no offers. Renee offered to fly me out to Hawaii were she was spending Christmas this year, but I didn't think it would be a good idea for a person as clumsy as me to be near so much water or to take part in the sports they had there. Peter and Charlotte said I could spend it with them if Charlie didn't mind as he was spending it down at La Push.

All around school, decorations were hung everywhere across lockers, outside in classrooms and most doors had a mistletoe as well so I was always careful about walking through after my almost run in with Eric in English.

I wasn't packing my books into my bag and was happily taking my time so that everyone else would have left and I could walk out in peace. Jasper usually came to meet me but because of how excited people were about Christmas it would take twice as long.

I was walking out the door when my name was called. I turned around to see Eric coming out the classroom. He stopped in front of me and just smiled. He began leaning forward and I was about to ask him what he was doing when I suddenly pulled back into a hard chest. Eric looked annoyed and then Jasper spoke.

"Hey Bella, Eric what's going on here?" he asked. Eric blushed and started stammering something, I didn't here most of it but what I caught was that there was mistletoe on the door and he was going to kiss me. This turned my cheeks red and I averted my eyes looking everywhere but at Eric.

"Really did you ask Bella if that's what she wanted?" Jasper continued asking, Eric viciously shook his head.

"It's tradition though and since she's standing there with me she should" Eric countered

"She should, should she..." then he spun me around and kissed me.

It was everything I had ever imagined it to be. His lips were soft as they pushed against mine and I started to become faint though the kiss couldn't have lasted longer than 5 seconds. When he pulled away he was panting hard and he leaned his forehead against mine. Eric had stormed off muttering about how Jasper always got the girls he liked.

When we had regained our breath Jasper whispered 'Sorry about that' before putting his arm round my shoulders, pulling me into his side and walked in the direction of Trigonometry.

That was a week ago. We never spoke about it after that, it was almost as if it had never happened and I wasn't sure what hurt me the most: the fact that Jasper pretended it never happened or that he apologised for it.

I on the other hand couldn't stop thinking about it and had even imagined what it would be like to kiss him again, but if there was one thing I would never risk, it was his friendship it meant too much to me.

I was at my locker - having gotten a lift from Charlie that morning – when suddenly I was being pulled down the hallway and my locker had been slammed shut. Suddenly I was dragged round a corner and a hand was placed over my mouth.

"I will take my hand off if you promise you won't scream" Jasper whispered in my ear. I nodded slowly wondering why all the secrecy.

"Ok Bella. You know that you're my best friend and will always be my number one girl, right?" he asked after another nod of my head he went on.

"You see the thing is...I kinda like someone and I wanted to get your opinion on her before I, you know ask her out...on a date of course" he tacked on at the end. I felt like I had been hit by a ton of balls. To say I was shocked would be an understatement, I knew people were attracted to him, but I never considered he'd _ever _be attracted to _anyone_ in this school.

Tears pricked my eyes and I wondered why I was so sad. I mean it was Jasper he was a good looking guy, he was bound to get feelings like this eventually, yet I still didn't know why it was affecting me this bad. I realised Jasper was still waiting for me to say something so I mumbled out continue and he did.

That day we skipped our first classes together and hung out on First Beach instead. It was sort of chilly so Jasper gave me his jacket as he was wearing a jumper underneath. He then gave me a long and I mean long description of this girl. She sounded perfect for him. I was shocked about how much he knew about her when he told me he'd fancied her for months. This got me, I mean we were meant to be best friends, he was supposed to tell me about something as big as this.

Jasper had never mentioned ever being interested in a girl, or even that he considered a girl and then all of a sudden he was telling me about her. She sounded amazing. Smart, beautiful but not vain. Her name is Christine Hunter a senior who's in his Advanced Chemistry class. He told me she was 18 years old, 5ft 4' with hazel eyes and strawberry blonde hair. That she is extroverted and hard-working but can be stubborn and is scared of flying.

As he went on about her I couldn't help wondering what this meant for us. If he got a girlfriend then I'd just be a third wheel, a tag along. He'd get bored of me and eventually send me packing. My depressing thoughts were dragging me deeper and deeper until Jasper was waving his hand in front of my face because I wasn't listening. Apparently he'd asked me a question and had only just realised I wasn't listening.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concern etched on his face. I didn't want to lie to him but it was the only way I thought to keep him happy.

"I'm alright, just wondering when I can meet her" I smiled. He looked at me and started shaking his head, sadness shone brightly in his eyes. Oh, no. He knew.

"Bella has it come this far that you can lie to me. That's bullshit and you know it. Now you can tell me what's bothering you or I can take you for a dip" he said pointing his thumb in the direction of the water.

"You wouldn't dare" I screamed right before I was hosted onto his shoulder and was being led toward there. I started screaming and shouting but eventually gave in when I was right above it.

"Okay Jasper, it's just that if you and Christine start dating, then what will happen to me? I'd just be a third wheel. Left out. We'd never be the same" I said and just the thought of that brought tears to my eyes and as hard as I fought them, one still managed to escape and trailed down my cheek.

A thumb wiped it away and started stroking my cheeks. I looked up and was met with Jasper's eyes. They looked like a stormy grey today, but that could've been from the weather.

"Bella, you don't honestly think I'd abandon you just because I have a girlfriend." He asked. When I didn't reply he answered for me. "I wouldn't Bella. I swore to always protect you and I will. Now I'm going to make another promise. I, Jasper Whitlock swear to you, Isabella Swan to never hurt you for as long as I may live." He was looking at me, trying to get me to see he meant it and I knew he did that's why I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him with all I could.

We eventually got back to school in time for Period 3 and were called into the office. After our parents were called and detentions were handed out we made our way to our classes with sneaky smiles on our lips.

xXx

School passed quickly that week and soon it was the run up to Christmas and so like every year Jasper and I would go Christmas crazy. This year Christmas was on Sunday so one week from Christmas we sat down in Jaspers room and made a list. We were bored and unsure what to do. We had already decorated both our houses and the trees and were unsure what to do and that was when Jasper got the idea.

He said we should plan what to do each day. I personally thought it was a bit stupid but when Jasper started describing it, I really got into it. He was sweeping me up into his enthusiasm and I would do _anything _for him. Anything.

We spent the next half hour planning what we both wanted and by the end our list looked like this:

Monday – Carolling dressed as Elves

Tuesday – Free Time!

Wednesday – Raising money for Terminally Ill Children

Thursday – Volunteering at the Hospital for Terminally ill Children

Friday – Perform a Christmas Play

Saturday – Free Time

Sunday – CHRISTMAS!!!!

We immediately put our plan into action and Jasper asked Charlotte to drive us to Port Angeles. She dropped us off and promised to pick us up at 7:00pm. The drive there was comfortable. We talked, sang and laughed. I loved Jasper's laugh it was so genuine that I couldn't help but smile. We talked about unimportant things and are final plans for Christmas. In the end it was decided that I would spend Christmas with Jasper and his family so Charlie could spend it down in La Push with Jacob and Billy.

When we finally reached Port Angeles, we set to work looking for Elf outfits to buy. Most stores were closed and others were out of stock as those kinds of costumes were popular around this time of year. Soon we began to give up hope after we had been wondering round in circles until we saw Claire's Costume Shop. It was a petite little shop pushed in from the main roads. The writing was in curly writing and was cold on a pale pink board. The moon had come out illuminating and we took a chance and found out that it was the only one still open.

As we pushed open the door we were instantly blanketed in warmth, bells chimed signalling that we had arrived. The inside of the shop smelt floral and reminded me of a cottage as there were flowers everywhere. A vase of roses on the counter, some petunias on a shelf and other flowers dotted around. A plump lady with a head of white hair came running out from the back. She wore an apron that had (no surprise) flowers all over it and read 'Smell the Flowers'. She had warm eyes and a kind smile. Laugh lines around her mouth showed she was a happy person and very wise.

"Hello dearies, what can I help you with today?" she had a thick Irish accent and was looking at us with knowing eyes.

"Yes, ma'am we're hoping you still have some Santa and Elves costumes left 'cause we really need it" Jasper replied laying on his Southern Charm. My legs were turning into a puddle of jello and if it wasn't for the fact Jasper was holding me round the waist, I would probably be a puddle on the ground.

"Well you're lucky. I've got one Santa and Elf left in store" she said before turning to get them.

When she returned she handed them to us and said we should go try them on in the back to see if they fir. My dress and hat fit well but was a little short for my liking but it was easy to slip on and off. Since I was done first I went out to wait for Jasper who seemed to have a hard time getting it on.

"I see it sweetie" someone said behind me. I turned only to find Claire standing there. I was confused and I'm sure she saw that from the expression on my face.

"The connection. You two are perfect for each other" she explained.

"He's not my boyfriend....." but before I could continue Jasper came out dressed in his costume, he looked so funny that I couldn't help but laugh. I laughed so hard I fell off the stool I was sitting on but that didn't stop me. Tears formed in my eyes and ran down my cheeks and Jaspers expression just increased. I heard him grunt and heard the sound of a door shutting. Eventually I was able to calm my breathing.

I walked to the front counter to lay my costume up and Claire gave me a box. It was a dark blue velvet box that was smooth to the touch. I didn't understand why she had given to me but all she said was that I shouldn't open it until I felt it was the right time. It was cryptic and reminded me of the time my Grandma said I shouldn't give away my ring until I felt it was right. Jasper put his costume on the counter and despite my complaining he paid for everything.

As we walked back out into the cold night air, I turned back around to give Claire a wave and she mouthed 'Don't forget' and with that she turned and walked to the back again. I felt a tug on my arm and saw Jasper looking at me curiously. I smiled and started walking. My breath was cutting through the night's air, creating a trail of smoke and I had never felt as contented as I felt then.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while, the site wouldn't let me upload the Chapter and I've had a bit of writers block but I'm past it now and hope to have the next Chapter out tomorrow. We get to see a little Charlotte and Bella bonding in this one though. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story**

**Runaway Love **

**Chapter 4**

**Monday**

It was finally Monday and that meant we were going to do Carolling. At first I was still embarrassed by it but Jasper assured me that by the time his Mum was done making me over no one would recognise me.

Most people who did carolling went at night and that was what we were planning on doing except we had to fill in the rest of the day. I suggested sleeping in and Jasper agreed.

That morning I awoke to something cold poking me. I turned the other way trying to avoid it, but it kept coming back. I pushed my head under the pillows but still it kept on poking me. Then I heard it.

"Bella" so the poking thing had a name. Jasper. It would have been alright if he had just said my name but he had to use a bull horn. The shock of it sent me flying out my bed and onto the ground. My ears were ringing and my head was spinning. "So you're up" Jasper continued "Get dressed we've got plans today"

I was extremely annoyed and was ready to push Jasper out my window to get more sleep until I saw his face. The morning sun had come out the clouds and reflected on his face. He looked like perfection, his face was impeccably perfect and looked like it was made out of marble. Excitement was etched into every feature of him and once again I was under his spell.

He handed me some clothes and I went to have a shower. The water was warm against my skin, smoking up the mirror. I used my strawberry scented shampoo to wash my hair, the heat of the water caused the smell to amplify until it surrounded everywhere.

I got out and dried myself before putting on whatever Jasper had handed me. They looked like very warm clothes and I wandered what he was getting us to do today. There were some jeans and a blue jumper. When I walked back into my room he handed me a thick jacket to go over and my black boots.

I wandered into the kitchen and toasted some pop tarts which I ate as I walked out the door. Not the healthiest food, but Jasper was in a rush to get moving. I could see why Jasper wanted me to dress warmly as it was cold outside. I also saw Charlotte waiting for us in her car. She was smiling brightly and looked like she'd stepped off the cover of a magazine.

Jasper opened my door for me and I got in. I started to blush at how much of a gentleman he was and I felt special despite the fact that he did it for every other female even the ones who had no respect for themselves and threw themselves at him despite how much he discouraged their advances. The main reason why I think Jasper said no was because he was a virgin. At least he was the last time it came up in discussion.

We had been sitting in his room as usual, I was sketching and he was composing. In school a couple of days ago, Jessica had been a little odd to me as if she knew something I didn't. She kept smiling suggestively at Jasper and that caused me to wonder why. I had been trying to work up the nerve to ask him what but as per usual I was too much of a coward and chickened out. I could tell Jasper knew something was up but I was glad he was giving me my space to talk to him about.

The house was quiet and I decided that then was the right time to ask him what as he seemed to understand exactly what Jessica meant. I sighed and put down my pencil and sketch book my mind not able to fully concentrate on drawing something - anything - Jasper understood exacly what I meant and placed his guitar on the ground before standing up and joining me on the bed.

"Jazz" I said my voice coming out meek and quiet "Did something happen between you and Jessica?" I tried to sound strong and confident but my voice managed to come out feeling as vulnerbale as I was. He groaned and ran his hands through his hair. A trait I realised ran through the family.

"I should have known that's what must have been bothering you." he replied carefully scooting around my question and as much as I wanted to let it rest I knew it would only continue to bug and nag at me.

"You didn't answer the question" I accused.

"Well...Bells. Something...something did happen" In all the time I've known Jasper I've never heard him sound as nervous as he did now. I wondered why. The only reason I could think of would be that I felt dissapointed that he would lower his standards like that. My face betrayed my shocked and I tried to remain indifferent as I answered him.

"It's okay Jasper. Your a big boy, it's your life to live and if you want to sleep with someone you don't need to tell me about it. I was only wondering because Jessica kept hinting at something is all" I was going to continue when Jasper interrupted me.

"Wait. What, you think I _slept _with her!" Jasper spoke his voice higher in some places.

"Didn't you, I mean Jessica only ever does sleep with people and errr..." I started stutterung but was put out of my misery when Jasper kept talking.

"No, I mean I didn't sleep with her." Jasper spoke calmly and slowly trying to make sure I understood every single word.

"But...she...you...it" I was babbling like an idiot but I couldn't care less.

"Bella I'm....I'm a virgin" Jasper said embarrassed by his confession. I had a new found respect for Jasper and was glad that he didn't give into every girl who was easy and wanted a piece of him.

We made the short drive to Jaspers house in silence. I was wondering what was going on. When we finally arrived I got out the car and followed them into the house. I had began walking the usual way to Jaspers room when I was suddenly hoisted up and carried into Peter and Charlotte's room. Charlotte had been arranging various bits of makeup on the dressing table but stopped when I was dropped unceremoniously onto the bed.

She immediately got to work prepping me with makeup. I eventually lost track after she had applied reapplied and then touched up the eye shadow.

She then started on my hair I began to drift off and as always my mind wandered to Jasper. I wondered what he was doing. Was he playing his guitar? Bored? Or was he missing me as much as I was missing him?

For the rest of the time that Charlotte made me over I thought of Jasper. I thought of the little scar above his eye. I still don't know how it happened, but knowing Jasper it was probably due to falling out a tree.

Fours hours' later Charlotte was done and I was dressed. All Jasper had to do was put on a costume and go 'Ho Ho Ho' not exactly challenging. Then she drove us to the hospital where we were going to sing to the patients.

We started walking to the main reception. The walls looked sterile and white. The hospital smelt of illness and death. Jasper grabbed my hand and squeezed it, giving me a small smile. I smiled back. His smile turned into a smirk and he started to speak.

"I think you should lead the way Bella" he turned to look at me "considering you know the way so well" and with that Jasper had broken my nerves and made me happy.

At the reception stood a bored looking women she was happily chewing gum and reading through a magazine. I recognised her from all the times I came here but I was still unsure of her name.

"Hello I'd like to speak to Doctor Carlisle Cullen" I spoke in my best polite voice making sure to keep eye contact with her at all times. Her eyes narrowed dangerously at me and I wondered what I did wrong. She stopped chewing her gum; put her magazine down and her eyes flashed with jealousy. I realised that she was one of Carlisle's adoring fans.

"I'm sorry Doctor Cullen is unavailable at the moment unless you have an appointment" she had a smug tone in her voice and put extra emphasis on the _Doctor _part.

"Can you tell him his nephew's here to see him" Jasper told her. He had pulled down his beard and she had a clear view of his perfect face.

"Err um okay sure. Who should I say it is?" she stuttered her way through and was quite obviously undressing him with her eyes. I couldn't imagine how Jasper managed to go through this time and time again. He was just about to reply when someone said his name.

"Jasper. It's good to see you son. How are your mum and dad? I haven't seen them in a while." It was Carlisle. He had come round the corner wearing the usual Doctor get up. Long, white coat, stethoscope round his neck.

"They're alright. Mum wanted me to see if you and Aunt Esme wanted to come round for dinner sometime next week" Jasper replied.

"Of course, we'd love to. Esme would be ecstatic ansd how are you Bella? Another bump on the head for me to check for you?" he asked with a slight chuckle.

"No actually we were wondering if you would allow us to sing Christmas carols to some of the patients" I said.

"Well that's a wonderful idea. I'm sure they would appreciate the Christmas spirit" Carlisle answered. A smile lightening up his face.

So that's how we spent the rest of our morning and half of our afternoon. Jasper and I went round the Hospital singing to the patients. I had gotten swept away by the Christmas spirit that I almost forgot I was in a Hospital, but it was worth it to see how happy everyone was after we sang.

At around 6:00pm when the sun was down and it was Twilight, we began singing round homes in Forks. We went everywhere and luckily no one recognised us. We sang at homes, along the roads as well as inside and outside shops.

Little children stared in awe while all the parents joined along. It really was a wonderful evening and by the time Charlotte came to pick us up, I was exhausted and my throat killed but I wouldn't have had it any other way.

I spent the night round Jaspers house; he carried me up the stairs and placed me in his bed. I was surrounded by his smell and fell into an even deeper exhaustion. The last thing I remembered before succumbing to the darkness were warm arms circling my waist and a whispered 'Goodnight' in my ear.

**Sorry this Chapter is short but I've already got the next one nearly finished. It will be out tomorrow and it will **_**definitely **_**be longer. Thank you to all who have previously reviewed my stories and I hope you keep reviewing. Those who do get a sneak peek of the next chapter.**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while I've been busy but the next Chapter should be out either today or tomorrow and I mean it this time**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 5**

**Tuesday**

I awoke to find myself in Jasper's bed. I looked around and saw that he was no where to be found. Down the hall I heard a shower running and realised it was probably him in there. I stood up and stretched, my arms popped but I felt great. I couldn't even imagine what my hair and make up looked like now.

I walked until I got to Charlotte and Peter's room. I knocked on the door three times but when I heard no reply I cracked the door open an inch. I looked in and saw that the room was indeed empty. I walked straight up to the dressing table – avoiding the mirror completely – and grabbed the make up remover wipes.

I walked out of the room, closing the door behind me with a single click and dragged my tired legs to my room. I closed the door behind me silently and dropped the wipes on the bed. I then proceeded to take my Elf outfit off. I removed all the hair pins and shook my hair out. The natural waves in my hair stood out and I realised that my hair had messed up whilst I was asleep.

I grabbed my dressing gown and put it on then I grabbed my towel, shampoo and wash things and walked to the bathroom slowly watching my steps in case there was something there that was trying to make me fall. It was still steamy from when Jasper used it and everywhere still smelt of him. I inhaled the scent and blushed because it was almost like Jasper was here with me.

I had a quick shower and dried myself before wrapping myself in a towel and walking back to my room. On the way I bumped into someone and before I could fall to the ground, strong hands wrapped around my waist and I was pulled against someone's chest. I looked and was instantly captivated by Jasper's eyes.

He stood staring at me with a look I had never seen before. Eventually, I could no longer keep looking at him and turned my head. Soon I heard Jasper clear his throat and when I looked at his face, his cheeks were tinted a light pink. When I met his gaze he averted his eyes and mumbled something about breakfast before taking off at lighting speed down the stairs.

I walked back to the room slightly dazed. My heart was beating at such a fast pace I thought it was going to beat right out of my chest. I walked to the mirror and stared in shock at my reflection. The shower I had, had made my skin red and it looked like I was blushing heavily. My towel had slipped down as well and was barely covering my chest. My cheeks instantly flamed at the thought that, that was where Jasper was staring. My breasts weren't tiny by any standard but they weren't large either.

I got dressed slowly taking my time. Thoughts of Jasper bombarded my head. What happened with Christine Hunter? I've never had a conversation with her but apparently she's an honour student and I've seen her around school before. They would make a good couple. Jasper was tall and gorgeous and so was she except her hair was more golden than his which was honey blonde.

I pulled on a pair of black tights and slipped on a black and grey dress. I brought my phone out to call Charlie. I could hear the ringing of the phone as I pulled my hair into a low pony tail. The beep and recorded voice of the standard answering woman informed me that Charlie was unavailable at the moment. I left a short message on his phone informing him of my whereabouts and that I would either be home today or tomorrow.

I put my bracelet back on. Renee had given it to me one year. It was golden and twisted round each strand like vines climbing the side of the house. It was beautiful and one of the only meaningful things she had ever given me as it had sentimental value. When she was 12 her mother had given it to her and so on my 12th birthday she did the same. I always wore it unless I had to take it off; it reminded me that she still loved me; well that she did love me at one point and for one moment forgave me for being born. Phil treated me as though I were his own child though so she had no choice but to except me in her life.

Renee said that they weren't planning on having kids anytime in the near or distant future, but I could see how Phil longed to be a father. She would always say once was enough for her. Whenever we drove past a park and saw a father spending time with his kids, you could see the sadness in his eyes yet he would never go against Renee as he loved her too much.

She meant more to him than having children. He would give up fatherhood for her and in a way she did the same, she let me go to my father without much of a fight and granted she was upset but the day after when I called her, she told me they had booked a flight to England for 3 weeks.

Most of his family were against them getting married which may have been part of the reason I was the only family member present at the wedding. Not only were they unhappy about the age gap but they were unhappy she already had a child.

When they first got married and whenever they came round I would be sent to my room by Renee but that wouldn't disguise the sound of their voices saying 'the father left and now she's trying to force her child on someone else', it hurt deeply knowing that Charlie did love me and that it was Renee who left him without even a proper goodbye, just a note on the table in the middle of the night and a promise to get in touch to send the divorce papers.

Renee would usually bear it quietly, head cast down, but would occasionally say how much she loved me and that I was the best daughter someone could have but Phil _always_ stood up for me. I loved him like a real father. I remember once when they came round, I hadn't gone to my room as Renee had instructed instead I stood behind the closed door listening to everything being said. Phil's mother Gloria was on a rant again about me being already being 8 years old and that Phil was too young to be tied down to a wayward mother and her unwanted child, Phil defended me without a second of hesitation, standing up for Renee and I. He spoke about how great of a person I was. That he loved us but what got me the most was when he and said that if he was going to have a child, he'd want it to be me. That brought tears to my eyes and I rushed out to hug him.

Since that day, his family made no more comments about their marriage or me and even tried to spend time with me. Phil's sister Kate and her husband Garrett would even take me out with them and their kids when they went to fairs or amusement parks. I would sometimes even spend the night.

I got on well with their kids Jane and Alec who were twins and a few years older than me. They were good company and balanced each other out, where Jane was out going, wild and would often try to give me advice on how to woo the opposite sex, Alec was a good listener and was quiet and calm and would never interfere unless his hand was forced. Where Jane would try to talk to me about things that make me blush at the thought, Alex would teach me about the value of patience.

They were complete opposites yet you could see how much they cared about each other. They were so connected that when one was in pain or trouble the other would know. Jane calls it Twinpathy and insists it's a real word, when I asked how many people know she said 'Me, Myself and I' then added 'and now you!'

I tied a black bow into my pony tail and left the room. I walked down the stairs taking my time in no hurry to see Jasper; I was still embarrassed by what had happened earlier and was hoping that the longer it took me to get there the better. I walked into the kitchen and was assaulted by the smell of pancakes. My mouth instantly watered and my stomach rumbled. I had been so distracted that I hadn't even realised how hungry I was. I would have probably been embarrassed by the sound my stomach was making but Jasper was smiling at me.

"Wow Bells! No one said you couldn't eat. Get over here and grab some food." And just like that the tension was gone. We spent the rest of breakfast talking and bickering as per usual. Charlotte kept giving us odd looks but I paid no attention to it until she eventually left. As I went to grab some more milk Jaspers hand brushed against mine. An odd electric sensation ran through my hand up through my body and I instantly redrew my hand as though I'd been shocked. Jasper was staring straight at me, while rubbing his arm absentmindedly.

"You shocked me!" he accused.

"I shocked you! Don't you mean the other way around!" I shouted back. I could see Jasper getting annoyed. He screwed his hand into a ball and I could see his muscles flex. I gulped at the sight; he ran an agitated hand through his hair and groaned loudly. He turned his head and started pacing up and down the length of the kitchen. I sat there watching him as I continued eating my pancakes, just as I had gulped down another cup of milk; Jasper slammed his hand down on the table and shocked me completely.

His face was set with such determination that I admired him and feared him at the same time. The lines of his face had a hard edge to it and he was looking at me with a piercing gaze. Beads of perspiration had formed on his forehead and his eyes had turned a dark blue almost black colour. I stopped breathing; he cupped my cheek with the back of his hand. I could feel his heat scorching my cheek and warming me from the inside out. He began leaning in, my eyes fluttered close and just as I could feel his breath against my lips, Charlotte opened the door.

Jasper drew back from me instantly as though he'd been burnt. My face heated up and I ducked my head hoping to shield my face with my hair. The door slammed shut and I noticed I was the only one left in the room. I quickly set to work throwing away the waste and washing the plates. I took my time making sure every plate was cleaned to perfection and dried just as well. I washed the plates in the sink as well and also tidied up the counter. I wiped down the kitchen table and soon afterwards I realised I had no work left to do.

I checked the clock and saw that it said 1:05 pm. There was nothing left for me to do in the kitchen so I left closing the door behind me. I walked into the living room to see Jasper sitting on the couch watching a movie. He didn't see me coming and was surprised when I sat next to him. Technically he was on one end and I was the on the other side. We finished watching the movie in silence and Jasper got up and put a new one in. It was You Me and Dupree. A comedy, just what we needed. He went to the kitchen and when he came back he placed a bowl of popcorn on the table and two bottles of coke. The popcorn still had smoke coming out of it and I could see the condensation of the bottles telling me they were ice cold and from the fridge.

For the next hour and a half, we laughed at all the funny parts, my sides hurt so much and I had a stitch but I couldn't stop. Slowly as the movie went on we moved closer and closer together until my head was resting on his shoulder by the end. I made a move to take the empty bottles away but was pulled back down.

"I'm sorry about what happened earlier. It was wrong of me and I'm not exactly sure what came over me but I err...Do you err...get what I'm saying?" he asked me nervously as he rubbed his neck with his hand that was not wrapped around my waist.

"Yeah...yeah I do" I replied. We sat in silence for a while, it was slightly awkward and I kept trying to think of ways to break it.

"Can you still speak Lithuanian?" I asked. Charlotte is part Lithuanian and made sure to teach Jasper at a young age. When we were younger he tried to teach it to me but I soon gave up after claiming it was too hard. Back then the thought of stomaching Spanish (unwillingly) and Lithuanian (willingly) was too much and I gave up on the one I had a choice on. Also it took up a lot of my time as I still needed to practice the guitar, draw and just spend time with Jasper.

"Yeah, sort of. I've forgotten a few things, but I remember most of it. How come you're asking, do you want to try and learn it again?" he asked a mischievous glint appearing in his eye.

"Hell no!" I replied and once again we were Jasper and Bella again. Jazz and Bells. Best friends forever.

"I've been working on this song, would you like to hear it? I want to know what you think" Jasper asked.

"Sure" I replied giddy at the fact Jasper wanted my opinion on something he'd made. Jasper stood and walked out the room. I could hear his footsteps as he ran up the stairs and I hoped that he was as excited as me about hearing him play. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't hear him returning but the moment he returned I could feel his presence. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, goose bumps broke out along my arms and there was this electric tension in the air pulling me to him.

He sat on the table in front of me and placed his guitar on his knee. He strummed a few notes as he tuned it. When he was ready he looked me dead in the eye and began playing. The opening sound was beautiful, calm and mellow, soft and gentle but everything was so much more amazing when he began singing.

His voice sounded like melted honey. He had opened my ears to true talent as if I were once deaf. His hands moved gently across the guitar practically caressing each string as he strum it. It was if he and the guitar had become one. He had never looked more at home than he did then, never more at peace as he was when he played the guitar. His eyes were closed and a small smile played on the corner of his mouth barely there, but there enough to be seen.

My breath hitched in my throat as he opened his eyes to look at me, they were so deep and full of meaning he reminded me of an owl. They were meant to be the keepers of our secrets so wise and full of intelligence a bit like Jasper.

He was singing to me, his mouth forming every word perfectly, shaping them and using them to their full potential. It was the last verse; I joined in singing along with the words.

_No, heaven's not a place that you go when you die_

Our voices harmonised perfectly a mixture of low and high pitch.

_It's that moment in life when you touch her and you feel alive_

It was magical like we were connecting on a level higher than we were.

_So live for the moment_

Almost as if our beings were connected

_And take this advice, live by every word_

Like our souls started singing as one.

_Love's completely real, so forget anything that you've heard_

These words were to close to the truth

_And live for the moment now_

He strummed the last note and it hung in the air just lingering there like a blanket over us, keeping us in our little bubble of protection.

His thumbs went to my cheeks wiping something away and I realised I was crying. We were inches away from each other and if either of us leaned in, it'd be a kiss the kiss we would have had earlier.

We were to close; it was too intimate something we weren't.

_He's Jasper._

_My Best Friend._

He was leaning in gently as if testing the waters.

_This isn't right._

_We shouldn't be doing this._

His lips were practically touching mine.

_No._

_No._

_NO!_

I turned my head and his lips pressed into my cheeks, more tears fell as I stood and walked out the room; I ran to the laundry room and sat on the ground. Tears fell more rapidly. How could he be doing this to me? How did he get the power to affect me like this? Why do I want him to keep it?

I looked outside the window watching the clouds go by. It was if I were trapped in a loop in time as if I were the only one around. I watched the sky turn from a bright blue, to an exotic array of reds, yellows and pinks to a dull purple. It was Twilight again. It signalled the end of the day. There were no more birds, you couldn't hear the traffic. Everything was silent again.

The sky turned a dark blue almost black colour and the stars sparkled brightly. Two stars shone brighter than the others and I thought of my Grandma and Grandpa. It must have been them, she used to tell me that when one star shone brighter than any other it was Grandpa and I should wish on him and believe in him to make my wish come true. Though I was a Catholic I was never particularly religious except for right now as I wished.

_Give me the courage to be brave and let go. Give me the strength to save myself before I self destruct._

My tears had stopped awhile ago and I was simply left quiet. I yawned getting sleepy, I was hungry and my legs were aching but I didn't leave where I was sitting. Instead I lay my head on the ground and fell into a deep sleep.

**Wow! What an ending. I wasn't even expecting that and I'm the one writing the story. Jasper tried again to kiss her twice. I guess he was as hung up about there kiss as Bella was. Sneak peek to the first person to guess which song was sung.**

**~The Sunny Days~**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well Done to shelbron who was the first person to guess that the name of the song was The Tide by The Spill Canvas.**

**I won't be writing song lyrics or quotes at the beginning of every chapter. I'll only post things that are relevant to the story and are important to the story line.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

If today was your last day  
and tomorrow was too late  
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?  
Would you live each moment like your last?  
Leave old pictures in the past  
Donate every dime you have?  
If today was your last day

**Nickelback – If Today Was Your Last Day**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 6**

**Wednesday**

When I awoke the first thing I noticed was that I was too comfortable. The last thing I remember was that I had fallen asleep in the laundry room and that there was a bright beam glaring at me through a bedroom window. It looked like someone had decided to open the curtains. I turned over and tried to bury my head in the pillow to block out the light but I still couldn't get back to sleep. I definitely wasn't a morning person but once you got me up and flashed the sun in my face no matter how tired I was I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep no matter how hard I tried.

Next to me a light snoring sound was heard. At first I was momentarily confused until I saw that it was Jasper. My breath caught in my throat at how beautiful he was. I still wondered how I got lucky and ended up with him as a best friend. He could have chosen any girl, any guy if he wanted yet he picked me.

He turned and dropped his arm round my waist pulling him to me. My back was to his chest and he snuggled into my hair. I heard him take a deep intake of air before he said "Why are you up so early?" his voice was hoarse probably due to the singing we did yesterday and also the shouting that happened as well.

"Someone opened the curtain. I can't get back to sleep" he groaned and tried to bury his face in my hair. "I'll close them" I said before getting up and shutting them. The instant darkness of the room was wanted and I could feel myself becoming tired again. I yawned loudly, quickly covering my mouth with my hand. I felt a blush spread over my cheeks and ducked my head praying that in the darkness Jasper couldn't see it.

I walked slowly to the bed and climbed in, all the time wondering why Jasper was staring at me and how I got there to begin with. When I had pulled the cover over me I turned so that my back was to Jasper, but he wouldn't have that instead he turned me around so I was facing him and stretched his index finger out as he traced my blush.

"That's so adorable" he whispered so quietly I almost didn't hear it. He stared right at me and began leaning forward and for a fleeting second I wondered. _Is he going to kiss me?_ Instead he brushed a lock of my hair back. My face fell and I was sure he could read the disappointment that was shining bright as day but he instead decided to ignore it, before lying back down and going back to sleep. I felt a little piece of my heart fall to the ground.

I left the room and went to have a shower. I then brushed my teeth and walked to my room. A fluffy white towel was wrapped right around me, covering my body and keeping me warm. Once there I put on some underwear, a clean pair of sweatpants and one of Jasper's old t-shirts.

I tied my hair in a low pony tail and walked down the stairs. The house was quiet so I assumed everyone was still asleep but when I got to the kitchen I saw Charlotte sitting at the table reading a book, a hot cup of what smelt like coffee permeated the air. I stood awkwardly in the doorway, when she glanced up and saw me. She shot me a warm smile and stood up turning to bring a cup out the cupboard. I smiled back; this was something we'd do at night usually. When we couldn't sleep, we'd come downstairs and when the other would come we'd make them a hot drink as well.

"So I'm going to warrant a guess and say that Jasper is still fast asleep" Charlotte eventually said setting a cup of hot chocolate, with marshmallows, in front of me.

"Yeah" I replied trying to disguise the sadness in my voice. I didn't understand it. Why would I be so upset that Jasper didn't kiss me? He's my best friend; I'm not supposed to think this way about him, am I? I unconsciously started remembering how Jasper's lips felt pressed against mine; I remembered that his breath had smelt of peppermint that day.

I started to blush at the thought, when I realised that Charlotte was looking at me expectantly and I realised that she had asked me a question but I was too lost in my thoughts to hear her. I racked my brains to try and remember but came up with a blank. She smiled at me triumphantly and I noticed a glint appear in her eyes.

"You looked pretty distracted Bella. Care to share?" she reminded me of Jasper when I would zone out and usually it was because he was distracting me.

"Err no, not err really" I replied stuttering through my answer.

"Well it's okay. I already know and if he took his head out of his ass and looked around maybe he'd see it too" she sighed and took another sip of her coffee before turning back to her book. Another cryptic message. Why does everyone keep saying things like that? I didn't understand and who would I look good with? Jasper maybe, no way! I had no chance with him he was every girl's dream and I was just the plain Jane best friend. That's all I would ever be. For some reason that thought made me sadder than I thought possible.

Jasper stumbled his way downstairs his hair was messier than usual and he had put on a pair of pyjama pants as well. His chest was bare and Charlotte was looking at him disapprovingly although he was too tired to comprehend why.

He slumped into a chair and slouched over; any person who saw him would think he was hung over whereas he was only gathering his thoughts. He looked up and stared directly at me. His eyes were asking questions, questions I did not want to answer.

Charlotte feeling the tension in the air and sensing the upcoming storm got up and made a hasty retreat from the kitchen using the lame excuse of having some laundry to fold. We sat staring at each other from across the table, both daring the other to break eye contact first. We were both stubborn but the weight of his stare was getting too much for me. They reflected the inner turmoil he was having with himself, the feeling of betrayal. That got me. He felt that by me not answering him, I was betraying him and that was something I would never do.

"Jasper I...I...I don't know what you want me to say" I looked at him silently pleading with him to understand where I was coming from.

"I get it, I was too...close yesterday I'm not sure what was up with me and now you were wondering why I had my hand on your face, I mean I probably should have asked first, but then you just left and next thing I know, I see you and you look so confused and sad. Why?" Jasper asked.

"Just some stuff we were talking about. My Grandma was brought up" I sniffed a little to try and make the lie believable. I hated the guilt that accompanied this. Jasper was looking at me and I could see the compassion he had for me in his eyes, the pity and the empathy. Jasper was always good at sensing my emotions no matter how hard I tried to hide it from other people, he always knew and I was glad he believed me, though I wish I didn't have to lie.

"Oh, I'm sorry; I know how hard it is for you. Come here." He replied. I stood up and walked round to his side of the table and he surprised me by pulling me down onto his lap. He tucked my head under his chin and started rubbing my back. It was so relaxing, and my body went limp.

Today we were meant to go and raise money for the Hospital for Terminally Ill Children. This was my idea, most of them haven't even begun to live life and it was already being snatched away from them. Most people don't realise how much of a gift life is and take it for granted.

It was currently 9:03 am and starting from 11am we will be doing a car wash. That'll stop at around 1pm. Jasper is doing a sponsored run and I'm doing a sponsored silence starting from 1pm. Charlotte and Esme are supporting our cause by doing a class on Interior Design and Carlisle is giving a tour to students from Port Angeles High who are aspiring to be Doctors. Charlie is raising money by giving kids rides in his cruiser and a tour of the station.

We are also getting sponsored to do bungee jumping and _plenty _of people have sponsored me for that after hearing of my fear of heights. Jasper kindly reminded me that it was for a good cause and that was the only way any one would get me to jump off.

Doing the bungee jump was the scariest thing I've _ever _had to do. We were so high up and when we jumped I was sure I was going to die. Gravity pulling me right down and when we nearly hit the Earth we were flung back in the air. I'm not sure what scared me the most flying up or dropping down.

The day was a success and we raised plenty of money, some people also donated toys they didn't play with as well. We went to the shops and bought lots of toys to take with us the next day. We were planning on staying the whole day there as it was in Seattle.

We were going to be driven there by Charlotte and Esme as they needed to buy some things for an old house they were renovating together. Esme was amazing at making things just fall into place and match perfectly as if they were made to be placed just like that whereas Charlotte made sure it reflected exactly who you are and anything that was you.

That night as I was dropped off at my house, Jasper walked me to the door. When he got there he hugged me and said two words before walking away. The words made no sense yet completely intrigued me at the same time. I knew I would not forget them in a hurry.

As I lay in bed I fell asleep to the sound of Jaspers voice as he whispered 'Tave myliu' in my ear. I had no idea what it meant, but what I was sure of was that three things were clear:

Jasper didn't want to tell me something in English and instead said so in Lithuanian

Whatever he said he wasn't ready for me to know the meaning.....

I had to find out what he was hiding

**It's really funny. I had this Chapter done since last week. It was just Chapter 5 that had me stuck. You get there visit to the hospital tomorrow and the Christmas performance after that. I'm hoping to get the next Chapter out tomorrow or the day after so let's cross our fingers.**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	7. Chapter 7

**This Chapter shows their visit to the hospital, sorry that it took so long to get up. I've been suffering a huge amount of writers block and I've had a lot of Maths homework to do a subject I pretty much suck at, but that's no excuse. I'm pretty sure the next Chapter will be out on Monday and if we're lucky Sunday evening.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love **

**Chapter 7**

**Thursday**

I thought carefully about what Jasper had said to me last night. I couldn't understand why he'd want to hide something from me. We told each other _everything, _what changed? I sighed and put no more thought to it. I looked at the food in front of me: pop tarts. I bit into one of them and found it'd gone cold. I stood and put them into the bin no longer feeling hungry. I wondered upstairs to put on my shoes and grab my jacket. Whilst I was up there I grabbed my camera and sketch book. On one of my shelves, there sat the little blue velvet box that I had gotten from Claire. I picked it up and looked at it carefully, studying it. I hadn't touched it since I had gotten home that night and had completely forgotten about it. I dropped it into my bag and went to the stairs.

I walked slowly back down stairs, wary of accidentally tripping and hurtling down. I sat at the kitchen table and started finishing a sketch I'd started a while ago. It was of a fairy, she was sad and had her knees crossed and her head down. For some reason I felt she described me perfectly, I never wanted any attention and I was just as lost as she was except I had My Guardian Angel to lead me home: Jasper. What felt like only a few seconds later I heard a knock on the door and looked up surprised that time had gone by so quickly. I hurried to the door and saw Jasper standing there on the other side. Behind him was a Mercedes Benz which I presumed belonged to Esme.

Jasper slid his arm around my waist and began leading me to the car where he opened my door for me and helped me in. The engine of the car started smoothly and soon we were cruising along. The car sounded like it was purring and the vibrations helped me to relax.

Esme and Charlotte were busy discussing colour schemes to use in the house. It was apparently being made for a newly wed couple with a baby on the way. They had already met them and had already been in regular contact with them, but today they were being informed of the gender of the baby so they know how to decorate the baby's room.

Apparently the woman Irina was into cooking and baking, she also enjoyed fashion and making clothes. Her favourite colours were Cobalt Blue and Lime Green. The husband's name was Laurent and he was a Plastic Surgeon. The house looked like a cottage and was in a private area. The rooms that they had requested for so far were a Nursery, Master Bedroom and guest room although there were 5 bedrooms. What worried me the most was that they asked that the walls of the basement should be padded and that the ground should be turned into a giant mattress, after that I stopped listening.

The world was a blur outside my window. The trees passed me by in arrays of colours of all shapes and sizes. Dark greens, light greens, ferns and oaks. It was beautiful seeing so much life and just as many healthy plants. I couldn't imagine how much life might be out there, back in Phoenix you would never see such rich plants because the heat was too much and killed them. It was like a desert out there, a strong dry heat that sometimes meant it was too hard to breathe. I always wondered why we didn't get to have a siesta like they did in Spain. Midday is always the hottest time of the day yet we had to suffer and go to school. Lucky me I have gym at that time of day and usually by the end of it I practically collapse.

I began getting less and less conscious; I heard Jasper whispering something before my body was turned and adjusted, then I drifted into a fitful sleep.

I was running faster than I ever had before, I could hear footsteps behind me and I could see a shadow looming over me. I was wearing a white dress and no shoes. I could feel my feet sinking into the mud as easily as if it were quick sand. It was soft and cold against my bare feet but I kept running, not stopping. Twigs were snapping and owls were hooting. It was dark and I couldn't see but I could feel eyes on me watching my every move.

Something or someone was out there waiting for me. Up ahead a bright light appeared and I was momentarily stunned. I stopped in my tracks about 15 feet away from it. At first I couldn't see what it was but the light began to dim and I could see a figure. It was Grandma. She stood there smiling at me; her white teeth sparkled brightly as though in a toothpaste commercial.

She opened her arms as though she wanted me to come and that's what I did. I ran full speed at her and hugged her. Tears streaked down my face staining her white dress but I didn't care. I was just glad she was here. She smelt the same of this perfume she used and of baking. She was always baking delicious cookies and cakes. Once when I was little and spent Christmas in Forks she made gingerbread houses and I helped her decorate them.

"Sweetie, what's wrong. I thought you'd be glad to see your old Grandma" she asked humour evident in her voice but I missed her so much that I missed it.

"I did miss you Grandma, honest. When you died I couldn't believe it, I didn't want to. You left me. I had never felt so abandoned in my life. Is that why you gave me the ring because you knew? Is that why?" I asked.

"Darling God was calling. He told me that I had done what I was meant to on Earth and he kept me long enough so that I could help put you on the right path so you can achieve your destiny. It's up to you now." She replied

"Isabella, my have you grown" I heard a voice say. It was a deep voice that sounded so wise yet you could hear the youth in it. It sounded so familiar. It reminded me of....

"Grandpa?" I asked more tears falling from my cheeks "Is that you?" I continued. I couldn't believe it. I was 5 when he passed away. At first I didn't understand but Charlie had told me that he was dancing with the angels now. Renee however was unaware that Charlie had explained, instead she told me that Grandpa had fallen asleep into a really deep sleep and made sure to be clear when she told me that he would _never_ wake up. After that I was afraid to sleep, I didn't want to end up like Grandpa, instead I would find different ways of staying awake and every time I did fall asleep I would wake up disgusted with myself that I succumbed into such a weakness and would promise to do better. Eventually when I was 7 Phil realised what I was doing and discussed with Renee before having me talk to a therapist who explained to me what death was. I wasn't allowed to go to the funeral as Renee thought it would traumatise me but what she didn't understand was that she had already accomplished that.

"Yes, it's me Bells. You're old Pops. Come here and give me a hug." He said. He crouched down and I hugged him. My arms held his neck in a death grip but I wasn't worried about suffocating me. He stood up with me and his back clicked.

"My Bells how you've grown. Really you were just a little thing last time I saw you. By golly what have they been feeding you? You're a bit thin. You young girls these days always trying to lose weight. Back in my day if they had the opportunities that you have there's no way that they wouldn't eat." He went on.

"I missed you so much Pops. I couldn't believe that you would just fall asleep like that and then Renee said that you would never wake up....."I cried

"I still can't believe she said that. I mean Charles took full responsibility and explained what happened but I guess she just doesn't trust him to be a good father" he sighed as he shook his head sadly.

I released my grip round his neck and stood there looking at them. Grandma was wearing a dress, the same dress she had been wearing on the last day I saw her. It was a pale blue dress that came down to her ankles; it had white flowers embroider along the bottom of it. Her hair was loose and blowing steadily whereas Grandpa was wearing his New Jersey shirt with plain black dress trousers and just like grandma he was wearing that outfit on the last day I saw him.

I smiled at them as they joined hands and they gave me one last hug before they began to fade, it was as though they were floating backwards. I reached my hand out and began running after them. I stumbled but picked myself up and continued. I shouted out 'NO! NO! NO!'

Grandma kept on smiling at me before saying 'Good luck dear' and they vanished. I tripped and stumbled to the ground. I was falling, falling down, down, down towards my doom, my death. I wasn't afraid just sad I couldn't say goodbye. The ground was fast approaching and just as I was about to slam into it, I jolted awake.

I was breathing heavily and my heart was thumping so loud I could hear it in my ears. I looked around and saw Jasper looking at me. A flash of pity appeared in his eyes and I knew he knew. It was obvious, I sleep talk. I was bound to let something slip. The car had stopped moving and I didn't bother to ask where Charlotte and Esme where.

"Bella, I'm so sorry. I was going to wake you up, but you seemed so happy and I heard you say 'Grandma' I wanted you to smile. Then your face changed like something was being ripped away and then you were crying but you wouldn't get up. I'm so sorry Bells" Jasper was apologising....to me. I didn't understand. He wanted me to be happy and I was even though it was for only a few seconds I was happy but now he's apologising for it. I didn't want him to be sad because of me. It would be a sin to make an angel cry and that's what he was to me My Guardian Angel.

Before I could say anything to him, he bundled me into his arms and pulled me onto his lap. He wrapped his arm around me and tucked my head under his chin and began rocking me gently and soothingly singing something I could barely make out. I heard one line though.

xXx

We had just pulled up to the hospital. The outside was decorated brightly with paintings probably done by the children inside. There were suns and rainbows someone had even drawn an angel. There was a large sliding door that was made of pure glass on the outside and two small windows on the side. From my view in the car I could see that through the doors was a large stretch of corridor that had a few doors on either side with chairs outside them. There were a few potted plants inside as well as outside.

"Well here we are kids. What time should we pick you up because I'm not exactly sure how long we're going to be working for today as we might have to go out to buy a few samples or to draw up a few drafts" Esme said. Her caramel coloured hair sat neatly on her shoulders. She was wearing plain blue jeans, a black turtle neck and a blue jacket on top. She smiled brightly and it was clear how kind she was. She was a caring women always donating to Women's shelters and to charities that helped young girls who had been affected by rape or were pregnant. She had never been able to have children of her own after having her womb removed due to cervical cancer. She survived which was a miracle considering how far it had spread but it came at a cost.

"Maybe you can just pick us up when your done or we'll call you if we have to leave earlier" Jasper answered back. We said our goodbye's and exited the car. We waved to them as they drove off the black paint glowing slightly.

We walked to the doors and Jasper slid them open shutting them once I'd gone through. Unlike the hospital in Forks this one smelt of life and happiness though the children were dying and knew they were dying. It brought tears to my eyes as I remembered a girl I knew in Phoenix. I was 11 and she was 13. She was paralysed from the waist down and only had control of one arm yet she was the happiest and most bubbly girl you could ever have met. She was very kind always trying to cheer a person up when she saw them sad. She knew she was dying and she knew it was happening fast yet she never regretted any thing, always living life to the fullest. She was in a lesson with me and I remember when I came back to school one day I was looking for her as we were meant to be working on a project together after the short holiday.

I kept looking round wondering where she was but then in class when the register was called out and her name was said a student answered saying she'd passed away over the holidays. A hall was going to be named after her but her parents said that she wished to not be treated as anything special amongst her peers and just wanted to be treated as one of the group.

We walked slowly up to the Reception desk; it was a beige colour that had a vase of mixed flowers on it. The lady standing behind it looked like she was in her mid-thirties and was smiling brightly; she was wearing a tag that said 'Siobhan'. She was quite short but was radiating with positivity, probably with the hope that some people can still survive.

"Hello I'm Jasper and this is Bella. We are the volunteers for today. I'm not sure what time we were meant to get here but here we are. We just want to help out, visit some of the patients" Jasper said before he was interrupted. It was almost scary how she looked. Jasper had apparently said something wrong and she was furious. Her face had turned an unhealthy shade of red and her eyes had narrowed dangerously. She stepped forward and puffed her chest out before speaking.

"Might I correct you by saying that these children in here aren't _patients_ and please refrain from using such words in this establishment. They are fighters, warriors whatever you want to call them. They are some of the most courageous and bravest people you will _ever_ meet in your life so don't come in here calling them patients. They wake up each morning with hope for a better day, for a brighter day and oh yes they know their dying. Some of them have no chance of surviving knowing each day could be their last, knowing they could be dead in the next second, but they make the most of it. They spend what little time they have left smiling and being happy, they spend time with their family and the ones that love them. They say goodbye and prepare themselves for whatever may lie ahead. So don't you dare call them _patients_" She said this word with so much disgust it sent shivers down my spine "_B_ecause I'm sure if you just found out your dying right this second you'd dissolve into tears. These children aren't patients...their....their survivors!" she shouted at the end.

Her hand had been poking Jasper in the chest to enunciate important parts and because of how short she was –she's shorter than me! – It was almost comical and I'm sure I would have laughed except what she was saying was impacting me badly. Tears fell down my cheeks in giant drops soaking my cheeks and I could see a few peeking out in Jaspers eyes. It was impossible not to cry as Siobhan was shedding tears as well.

Jasper bowed his head down, effectively hiding his face, tears and expression. "I'm sorry. Please forgive me ma'am it was wrong of me to address such inspiring people as such. It was rude of me and I swear to never do so again." His southern accent was quite obvious but I knew he wasn't trying to charm her. Jasper was being sincere but I knew he wasn't doing his accent on purpose. He usually tried to hide it except when trying to convince a lady and I'm pretty sure he never even realised he was doing it.

He looked up and his eyes were swimming with unshed tears. Siobhan could also see it too as she relaxed and grabbed a tissue off her desk. She wiped her tears and offered the box to me; I took a tissue and used it to wipe away my tears and blow my nose. I'm pretty sure my eyes were blotchy and my nose red but I didn't care. Instead I smiled at Jasper and he smiled back. We were a team. Sticking together through everything, no matter how bad or hard it got.

"Here are some things you can do this morning: you can do the clean up for after breakfast, help children with guided walks, and bring parents, relatives...." and on she went. We were handed a list and managed to do most of it quickly enough. We helped children who weren't as able to get around bringing them to the games rooms, on walks around the ground and so on.

We talked to a lot of people as well and learnt their stories. One girl we spoke to was born with HIV passed down from her mother. When she was born her mother couldn't believe how it was possible and found out that she was dying as well. Doctors also found it strange when they found out it was in her blood stream. She was pregnant when she found out about it. They thought that they had located it early enough and had to perform a caesarean which meant that she was early but there was a chance that she could live. Sadly, it turned out that the virus had already gotten too far in. They looked into this matter further and found that the reason the mother had caught the virus to begin with was due to the fathers infidelity. He had unknowingly caught the virus when he had an affair whilst he was abroad on a business trip. He passed it onto his pregnant wife and unborn child trapping them both, leaving them without hope. Her mother was already dead and her father was well on his way. She had hated him for years but when the Doctors had informed her that his time was running out, she forgave him. They had one other child whom she was quite close too but it wasn't the same. I found out her name was Victoria, she was 15 and had a boyfriend who also had HIV his name was James.

They talked a lot and lived together, before entering a sexual relationship he made sure to have a Vasectomy and she had her womb removed as a pledge to their love together. They swore to never have children so as not to trap them in such a half life, when they don't know when AIDs will happen but that it will. They didn't want their children to have such a shadow hanging over them day by day.

xXx

It was late by the time we had visited every room. The late afternoon sun cast a low shadow over the corridors in the hallway. They contrasted beautifully with how dark the walls looked but it gave some light to the place. We had reached a room. It had a yellow star on the front but also a sun next to it. We knocked on the door and after hearing a reply from the inside we pushed the door open and strode inside. It was a private room that had the usual IV and drip. There was a bed in the middle of the room that had a blue throw on top. There was a girl sitting propped up on the bed by pillows, she had strawberry blonde hair and a cute smile. Her eyes were a bright blue and her hair had been tied into pigtails. She looked about 6 or 7 and sitting on either side of her was a man and a woman. They looked like a young couple. The man was wearing glasses but looked quite tall; the woman was talking to the girl. It was clear she had been crying because of the tear tracks down her face but it was clear that she was trying to suppress them

The little girl was wiping away her mother's tears, whispering words of comfort to her. I didn't understand, her mother was losing her child but her child who knew she was dying was _comforting_ the mother. The sight brought tears to my eyes. Jasper grabbed my hand and we stepped forward. The man stood up and looked at us carefully as if sizing us up, wondering what we were doing there, his stance was hard and rigid but his posture soon relaxed.

He stepped forward and offered his hand which Jasper grasped tightly "Hello my name is Eleazar. This is my wife Carmen and our daughter Tanya. You must be Jasper and Bella. We have heard a lot about you two today. It's a nice thing you two are doing; most people would want to stay as far away from this place as possible considering how close to Christmas it is. I'm, glad that some people still have their humanity" he said with a tight smile. His eyes were shining brightly with unshed tears and I wish I could say I understood what he was going through but I didn't.

My grandma was already dead by the time I got the call and as for my grandpa I never fully understood what death was when he passed. Their deaths however had been somewhat peaceful both passing away in their sleeps, I never had to watch my family suffer; I never had to watch the life slowly slip away from them until they eventually passed. I went through great misery when my grandma passed and I didn't even watch her die, I couldn't imagine what it would be like for a parent in this position. To imagine the child you had created, held in your womb for nine months, whom you'd nurtured and cared for, to watch them die so agonizingly slowly. I'm sure they wished they were in that position instead. I'm sure they wished their child could have lived to finish their childhood.

Carmen turned to look at us almost as if she had only realised we were in the room, her eyes showed her curiosity but they were weighed down by her sadness. Her eyes were a bright blue as well to match her daughters as were Eleazar's. She had a sort of Hispanic look about her as though she were part Italian or Lebanese. She had soft features as though she were a delicate flower but would do anything for the ones she loved whereas Eleazar looked like he'd fight to the death for his family.

Carmen stood up and walked over to me. She studied me carefully as if trying to guess what my intentions were before grabbing me in a tight hug. I wrapped my arms around her and held her closely knowing she needed the comfort, the little girl sat staring at us from the bed, her father stood hunched over in the corner, cleaning his glasses, a nervous habit maybe and trying to discreetly wipe away his tears.

"Hello child. No need to cry anymore. She still has a chance and even if we lose her she'll be with God. She'll be playing with the angels." She whispered. Carmen's voice had an accent that was definitely Spanish. Now that I was seeing her close up I could see she had an olive tone to her skin, and that her eyes were a light blue. My heart broke for her, there were so many people in the world who had abortions not wanting children but this couple they loved there child more than anything and were fighting to keep her because of how much they appreciated her, because of how special she was, _is_ to them and some people willingly gave them up. They didn't deserve this, never asked for any of it. How come it's always the innocent who suffer? It wasn't right.

I walked round to the side of the bed. Tanya was looking at me curiously one of her hands held a pigtail which she was twirling round her finger. I turned to glance back at Carmen but could only see the back of her head as Eleazar comforted her. They were drawing strength from each other. One of his hands held a lock of her golden blonde hair whilst the other rubbed her back soothingly. He had buried his face in the top of her hair and I turned away not wanting to intrude in what was clearly an intimate moment. When I turned back around I saw that Jasper had sat on the other side of Tanya and was looking at me as if waiting for my permission to start talking, I saw Tanya was also looking at me which an expression that I could not decipher.

I sat back down nest to her and unsure of what to say I sat with my hands in my lap, fiddling with them nervously. I glanced up and saw Jasper giving me thumbs up and he smiled encouragingly. That gave me some confidence because if anyone knew if I could do it, it was Jasper. I sat up straighter and kept my hands still before speaking.

"Hi sweetie, my name is Bella. My friend over there is Jasper. We've come to visit you and everyone else at the hospital today. We also brought you some presents, would you like that?" her head nodded excitedly as I said that, her pigtails bobbing just as enthusiastically. It made me smile that such a small gesture could bring someone so much happiness.

"I'm Tanya. I'm 6 ½ and my tooth fell out yesterday. I put it under my pillow and the Tooth Fairy gave me a dollar. How cool is that! Daddy wanted to look after it for me but I said I was a big girl and could do it myself, because I am aren't I. I'm a big girl." Tanya said proudly. Her eyes lit up as she told the story, her voice was high pitched and adorable. She was one of those girls you just couldn't refuse, the kind that everyone would go 'aww' at anything she did or said.

"Well yes you are. Now what are you going to spend _all_ that money on." Jasper said getting into the conversation.

"I wanted to buy chocolate but Daddy said it will just make another one of my tooth to fall out but that's a good thing then the Tooth Fairy can give me more money to buy chocolate but this time I'll stay awake to catch her doing it. I'll stay awake _all_ night to wait for her. Mummy says she won't come if I'm awake but that's not true is it?" Tanya asked genuinely sad.

"Well my Mummy used to say that to me as well when I was your age." Jasper replied.

"Oh" Tanya replied. Tears welled up in her eyes and I could tell she was about to cry. I wasn't sure how to distract her when I remembered the presents. I rushed back to the door and pulled out one of the teddy bears. It was a small teddy bear that was brown and furry. A classical one but it was holding a heart that said 'little fighter'. It reminded me of Tanya and I hoped she liked it. I walked back to the bed holding it behind my back; she stared on wondering what it was.

"Tanya, I've got something for you but you can only get it if you close your eyes and hold your hands out." She immediately closed her eyes and her hands shot out quickly.

"Can I get it now?" she asked.

"But you didn't say the magic word." I continued on.

"Pleasee. Please, please, please, please, please........." she said as I handed her the bear. Her eyes opened and she cradled the bear in her arms. She smiled down at him and as she looked up I could see tears in her eyes.

"Thank you. He's soo cute. I'm gonna name him......Teddy!" she said her voice getting higher.

I only noticed then that Carmen and Eleazar where nowhere in sight. Jasper was playing I Spy with Tanya so I sat down and relaxed. I grabbed my bag and pulled out my sketch book, opening it to a new, blank page. I started to sketch an outline of something I wasn't quite sure what of yet. I started adding in more details when I realised it was Tanya and Jasper I was drawing. I looked up and saw him smiling at her as she whispered a secret in his ear. He would make such a good father one day and I wondered yet again what it would be like if we were a family. I let myself get lost in that daydream because that's all it was, it would never happen. I continued to draw them, getting minor details such as Jaspers scar and Tanya's bitten nails.

Eleazar and Carmen walked back in and I asked them to take a picture of the three of us, if was like we were a proper family, except Tanya was else's daughter and Jasper and I would never be together I reminded myself bitterly. Jasper stepped outside to call his mum and I sat in the room and waited.

Carmen was sitting on the bed with Tanya in her lap. I was watching them, Carmen was singing something in Spanish to her and Tanya was falling asleep. Someone tapped my shoulder and I turned around to see Eleazar standing there. He beckoned for me to follow him into the hallway so I did.

"It's funny you know. Tanya must really like you as it takes her a while to warm up to strangers." Eleazar said, taking me by surprise.

"Really, I thought she was that way with everyone." I asked still baffled.

"If you mean polite then yes she is but there's something there, something that I can't explain" Eleazar continued on.

I stood there silently wondering if that's all he wanted to say to me. He stood staring at the sun which was now completely set, leaving nothing but dark skies. I was about to turn to go back inside when he broke the silence.

"She has Leukaemia" he said. My mind took a while to catch up with what he was saying at I blurted out the first thing I could think of.

"What?" I said uncharacteristically

"Tanya. She's dying of Leukaemia." He repeated. "She had gotten it when she was 2 but then when she was 3 she had gone into remission but now it's come back full force at her and there's a chance she might not make it."

I didn't know what to say to that and I didn't think he wanted me to answer. I stood standing there before sighing and walking back into the room. I began packing our things up as Jasper would be back in any second. I walked over to Carmen and sat on the chair next to the bed, she looked up at me before turning her attention back to Tanya.

"All we can do is stay positive for her and keep hope" Carmen's voice cut through the air, her accent making everything more enunciated. "When you go home Bella, pray for her. Pray for the survival of this little girl. She's too good, too pure to have her life cut short like this. She doesn't deserve this pain or suffering. She's too young." Her body was shaking but she didn't break down and I understood. She was trying to block out all the bad from her daughter and protect her. Her arms like towers, guarding her.

I reached into my bag and pulled out the box and placed it on the table beside the bed. I understood what Claire meant now. When she said I shouldn't open it till I felt it was the right time, she wasn't talking about the box she was talking about my heart and now I have.

"Give that to Tanya for me, please. It would really mean a lot" I whispered. I walked out the room; I didn't wait to see if she had heard me or even acknowledged me. I could see Jasper in the distance and walked faster to meet him. I was desperate and needed him close. By the time I had reached him, I couldn't see anymore. My eyes were blurred from the tears that I wouldn't let fall. He picked me up and began walking in the direction of the car.

Why was life so cruel? No one deserved to suffer like that. No one.....

**Well there you have it. My longest Chapter so far. What did you think of there visit and tell me in your reviews what you think is in the box because it plays a key part in the story. If you guess it I'll tell you if you're right and remember that it comes to play in a few years.**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	8. Chapter 8

**I updated on time today well at least in the UK! I've got to say that a lot of your guesses are quite close to what is in the box. Here's a clue it's got to do with the title of the story. Hope that helps.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love **

**Chapter 8**

**Friday**

I woke up feeling stiff everywhere. My hair was covering my face and I realised I was still in yesterday's clothes. I stretched and felt my body relax; I looked at the clock and was tempted to go back to sleep seeing as it was only 9 am. I briefly considered the pro's and cons of lying in before deciding I should really see Charlie today. I hadn't seen him properly in a while and considering I had a play to perform with Jasper today I needed to stop neglecting him.

I got out of bed and saw that my shoes were sitting right beside it; in the rocking chair that sat in the corner of my room lay my coat and bag. I smiled knowing it must have been Jasper who put them there. I quickly stripped of my clothes, my top getting tangled with my hair. I wrapped a towel around myself and put a dressing gown on top.

I walked out the door closing it gently and made the short trip to the bathroom. I saw that it was empty and closed it after looking for any signs of Charlie. I switched on the shower and waited for it to heat up. I brushed my teeth as I waited for the water to heat, my mouth smelt minty and I blushed as I thought of Jasper and our kiss once again. I really wanted to kiss him; it was almost obsessive how much I wanted to. I didn't know what was worse: Jasper finding out how I thought about him or the fact that I thought of my _best friend _in a...well...a _sexual _way.

I'm not going to lie, I have thought about what it would be like if Jasper and I were together. It would be just like we were now. The same yet completely different. For one, I could kiss him whenever I wanted to but then we could do _other_ less PG stuff. The thought of Jasper and I doing stuff like that sent a heat rushing through me and the idea made a dull throbbing in between my legs. I sighed and went under the water. I poured my body wash on my sponge and began washing myself after I rinsed myself; I lathered my hair and rinsed it. As I moved my hand to wash in between my legs I felt a thick substance there that definitely wasn't water. As I continued washing myself _down there _I felt a slight tickle and the substance increased. I removed my hand immediately, continued showering and got out.

I dried myself and wrapped the towel around myself. I grabbed another one and used it to dry my hair. I walked back to my room grateful I couldn't see Charlie around. My skin was flushed red either from blushing or the heat of my shower I didn't know. I pushed my door and closed it with a thud behind me. I sipped on plain white cotton panties and a white bra. Both as virgin as I was. I began rummaging through my wardrobe looking for something to wear.

I thought it would be quick but soon I had most of my clothing flung all over my room. Random tops, jeans, skirts, dresses and so on were sprawled on my bed, floor and desk. There was a knock on my door and I realised I could barely see the ground. I wasn't sure who was there so I grabbed my dressing gown that was a crumpled mess on the floor and slipped it on before telling the person to come in.

Jasper stepped in smiling as he took in the state of the room. He looked effortlessly gorgeous as usual. Sometimes I really envied him, he was a guy it didn't matter what he wore but me, a girl it did matter yet he always looked better. It wasn't fair. I stood there staring daggers at the wall not wanting to see him.

"Really Bells, is there a reason you want to burn a hole in your bedroom wall? I mean what did it ever do to you?" Jasper chuckled. I still wasn't looking at him but I could imagine him rubbing his chin as he said it. His eyes were probably a sea green today as it was slightly overcast.

"How did you even get in here?" I asked completely ignoring his previous statement.

"How else, Chief let me in." Jasper had an odd habit of calling my dad Chief. It all started one day during the first holiday I met Jasper, when I was round his house. Charlie called to say he was coming to pick me up a bit late, so when he did arrive he was in uniform and his cruiser was parked behind him. Jasper was so amazed that he begged and I mean begged. Full on your knees constant whining and puppy dog eyes.

He wouldn't stop until Charlie agreed to give him a ride in the cruiser and to wear his hat. It was so embarrassing, I was sat in the back with bars separating us whilst Jasper was speaking and acting like a cop. It was nice to see him so excited though, he'd been miserable as Peter had left to go back to the army a couple of days before.

The only reason Peter was home at the moment was for medical leave. He had managed to corner a bunch of enemies and defeat them but two bullets had been shot in his leg and he found it slightly hard to get around, although you wouldn't know that if you saw him. His motto for life was _Grin and bare it,_ he made sure to always drill that into Jasper's said and so you hardly ever saw Jasper express pain or cry. Except for yesterday that was the third time I had _ever _seen him cry, well semi cry seeing as they didn't actually spill out.

"Why did you feel the need to come up here then?" I asked irritated

"Well I just thought you'd like to know..."he said drawing it out

"Just hurry up Jasper. You're a distraction to my life, I don't want you to become a distraction to my sanity as well" I bit back.

"Wow Bells, that hurt right here" he said clutching his heart and feigning hurt

"Just get on with it" I continued completely aware that I was only in my underwear underneath.

"I just thought you'd like something to wear, Mum asked me to bring it" he handed me a bag that when I looked inside of it, I saw a blue blouse and a black skirt. I looked up at Jasper unbelievably and saw that his attention was else where. I had put the bag on the bed and bent over. Jasper was currently staring at my ass. Though covered I was still embarrassed by the fact that he was trying to bend to get a closer look.

I stood up and straightened myself up and saw Jasper straightening something as he walked out the room. I quickly got dressed and walked downstairs. Charlie was at home today and I saw him sitting in his favourite recliner watching the sports channel. Jasper was also sitting near him and they were discussing fishing techniques as far as I could tell. I didn't understand Jasper hated fishing because of how boring he found it yet he was talking like a professional.

I walked closer my bare feet sinking into the carpet making me almost silent I stood behind Jasper and put my hands over his eyes.

"Guess who?" I asked. He removed my hands and turned around to look at me smiling.

"Ha ha, very funny Bella. You're a comedian" he said sarcastically. I walked round the couch and sat on the chair next to Jasper. He bumped my shoulder with his and I bumped my leg with his in out secret greeting. Charlie sat there looking at us knowingly. I hated the smug smile on his face acting like he knew something I didn't.

"So Isabella" Charlie started. I wondered why he was using my full name, I'm pretty sure I hadn't done anything wrong "You and Jasper are pretty close" he began

"Dad!" I whined. I had told him time and time again Jasper and I were _not _dating, nor would we _ever _date.

"Just making sure your being safe kiddo. So Jasper what are your intentions with my daughter?" he continued.

"I plan on making her my best friend for life" Jasper stated confidentially.

"That's all" Charlie asked his eyes widening.

"That's all" Jasper repeated with a final nod of his head.

Charlie sat there completely gob smacked and left us to our own devices for the rest of the day.

xXx

The original idea for the play was that it was going to be a modern version of Romeo and Juliet, it was overused but everything was fabulous. There were going to be gangs and fake guns, I spent ages helping with the scenery and painting, it was an amazing idea as it was being performed by the Drama Club in our school. When Jasper and I asked if we could join in they agreed whole heartedly well the girls certainly did which is probably why we got in. The guys were inconspicuously glaring daggers at Jasper but he cleverly ignored them, he probably annoyed them more when he started talking to them and acting like they were the best of friends.

We had only attended a few rehearsals during school time and because of what we'd been doing before we attended no rehearsals and so _I _wasn't very good, Jasper on the other hand was amazing. He did everything so effortlessly, learnt all his lines and looked so natural on stage that they put him as one of the main parts. The girls and a few of the boys wanted to put him as the leading role but a few people –Jasper included – thought it was unfair. He gained a lot of respect for saying that and made more of the girls swoon, myself included.

Like I said though it was meant to be the original idea and somehow I managed to single- handily destroy _everything_. Everyone knew how clumsy I could be so they were unsure of what part to cast me as. In the end I was going to be one of the girls in the background with only one line, Jessica remarked sarcastically how there was _No way even I could mess that up or anything at all_ they were all wrong.

When we were practicing a scene I was shooed of stage by Jessica, I stumbled backwards and hit something it was a piece of purple fabric, so I pulled it to give myself some better balance. That didn't work out so well. It was like watching everything in slow motion, the fabric came apart at the top and loosened a rope that was supporting a stage light on the side, that well and crashed into a table with props that sent them rolling onto the stage.

Tyler the leading man; slipped on one of the cans and crashed into Jessica before falling off the stage. He landed in a very _uncomfortable _position. Jessica fell onto a little cart thing and whizzed away off stage, in the distance we could hear the sound of a _BANG! _Followed by a _CRASH!_ It was almost like a television program as we saw a wheel roll back on stage.

I couldn't believe what had happened and walked as far away from the scene as possible feigning innocence. Later Jessica accused me of doing it on purpose; she was backed up by Lauren who agreed that I just wanted to take her part as Juliet. Jasper stood up for me against them and the funny thing was after his little speech about me, people clapped and I don't just mean clapped. They applauded him. It was unbelievable. I'm sure my mouth was hanging open but Jasper just smiled and acted modest.

The new idea for the play is going to be a Musical Medley. They were going to take songs from different movies and have people re-enact them. I was in charge of painting things that were going to be used in the scenes whereas Jasper was going to work with Ben to create graphics which on the night was going to be controlled by Ben alone. Ben was a nice guy and was amazing with computers. He wanted to do Manufacturing and Engineering or to do something with Computer Technology.

I could sing quite well in fact, Renee never understood why I always wanted to stay home practicing my guitar, drawing or singing. She called it a waste of time. She wanted me to go out with my friends, do my make up and hair and to get a boyfriend. Phil encouraged me to sing in the living room and even wanted to hire a coach for me but Renee was against it.

She could do nothing about me singing in the living room though and had to put up with it. That's how I felt with us most of the time, I looked after her, when Phil came home late, I'd cook dinner, do the laundry, clean the house. I was the adult and she was the child. She took my childhood from me and almost was the reason I could have lost my innocence.

Renee was obsessed with getting me a boyfriend which is why; I think she didn't want to believe me about Travis. She thought he was perfect boyfriend material and that he was perfect in general. He wasn't and that shattered her illusion. God only knows what would have happened if I didn't have the guts to speak out or to end the lessons. He might have raped me or scared me into submission. After I ended the lessons he came over every time his mum did and Renee would basically give him a free pass to molest me.

She would always say _Travis why don't you go upstairs with Isabella, she can show you how well she can play the guitar and you can give her a few pointers. She can sing really well maybe she can sing with your band_ and so on. The worst part was that Renee got Phil to make my room and theirs sound proof. Her reason for doing so was that I wouldn't over hear something I didn't need to know when actually it was so she didn't have to hear me play. It wasn't right she said I could play well but the only way she would know that was if Phil told her.

The sad thing was that when I was little she wasn't stable, we would move from place to place, getting evicted. We'd stay in cheap motels barely getting by on Charlie's child support cheques. It wasn't fair and it wasn't right, Renee acts like most of the time she just puts up with me but I loved her. I loved my mummy and that hurt sometimes knowing that she may not love me back.

Travis would go up to my room and I'd be in there unaware he was coming. One time when he came he actually tried to rape me. I had never been so scared in my life, he had been told to bring a drink up to my room for me but unbeknownst to me he had spiked it with alcohol and date rape drug. I drank it and immediately began feeling woozy. It would have been the perfect time as well because everyone else had gone out to admire his parent's new car.

He had me pinned to the bed and was working on trying to open my belt buckle before I realised what was going on. I was scared, I screamed and he slapped me. I tried to bite him but he pulled my hair removing a few strands. I eventually became limp and when his balls were in perfect alignment with my knee I kicked. He fell of me and onto the ground clutching his family jewels. I ran from the room but the effects of the drug were still in my system and I ran into a few walls and fell down the stairs. Phil was in the kitchen and saw me tumbling and asked me what was wrong. I fainted. I woke up in hospital a few days later.

I never told anyone what happened, I kept quiet but Phil knew, he just knew and supported me through the trauma. I refused therapy and Phil said it was dangerous as it might affect me when I was older but I didn't want to remember. Travis never came round again; he got all his friends to be calling me a slag, whore and a bunch of other things I never wanted to utter, which only helped fuel my decision to leave. I never told Jasper though; I didn't want him to look at me differently. Our friendship would have _never_ been the same.

I practised all the time for the Musical, in the shower, when I ate. The plan was that everyone did a duet with someone but we'd do a few bigger numbers and an extremely big one at the end. I was to do my duets yes that's right more than one with Jasper. So where everyone else but this was Jasper he had the most amazing voice .So when the night actually arrived I was beyond nervous. The program of when people sang went like this:

_**Part 1**_

_**Mike and Jessica – A Whole New World**_

_**Lauren and Tyler – All I Ask Of You**_

_**Tia and Benjamin– Ain't No Mountain High**_

_**BIG NUMBER – Lady Marmalade **_

_**Part 2**_

_**Bella and Jasper– Elephant Love Medley**_

_**Tyler and Tia – Timeless To Me**_

_**Mike and Lauren –Beauty and the Beast**_

_**BIG NUMBER – Greased Lightening **_

_**Part 3**_

_**Mike and Tia– Somebody to Love**_

_**Benjamin and Jessica –Till There Was You**_

_**Bella and Jasper – In My Life**_

_**BIG FINALE!**_

There were only 8 of us left as all the others had quit after the incident. They were either unhappy with who they were paired with or unhappy about the amount of songs Jasper and I did together. Everyone else swapped round but we stayed strong and it wasn't like I had mush choice as Jasper had said to everyone I got dibs on Bella.

I didn't understand why they wanted us to close the show, it made no sense but the plan was that we'd start it but then everyone else would join in and make a giant finale. Jasper agreed with it but what annoyed me was that I was told the dance moves but they never told me what song it was all I knew was that I knew it. I couldn't understand why they wouldn't tell me.

I was standing backstage looking out at the crowd of people who had come to watch, I was sure I'd mess up or I'd forget my lines. The first row was taken up with our families. Renee and Phil had flown out to visit which only increased my nerves, the only reason she came was because she felt guilty. Peter and Charlotte sat next to Charlie who was smiling enthusiastically. They spotted me looking out and waved. I waved back even though I was sure I was going to puke.

Someone tapped my shoulder and I nearly screamed, I spun around instantly and became face to face with Jasper, well face to chest considering how tall he is. I looked up and saw him staring at me with a bemused grin; his eyes were lit up with amusement. I scowled he was always laughing at me and it really got on my nerves, but I'd let him get away with it. He was Jasper how could I not. His eyes had changed colour again, maybe it was because of the bright light or not but they were now a sky blue. As blue as Charlotte's were. It really suited him and blended perfectly with his hair.

My eyes stung with tears that were threatening to appear, I wanted to appreciate these last few moments I had with him. Soon he'd be Christina's no matter that she was older, it'd work. She'd be his; he'd be hers, perfect. They'd have cute little blonde haired, blue eyed children. Jasper and Christina Whitlock. Her name even suited what she looked like. It wasn't fair that two people could be so gorgeous in the same place. They could be like a power couple. I hated her because of him.

I pushed my face into his chest, he smelt kind of woodsy and warm. I'm not sure you could smell what warmth looked like, but if you could it's probably be like this. I felt Jasper's arms wrap around me and I smiled despite the pain. I was definitely masochistic.

"What's up Bells, you're acting a little bipolar. Care to share?" Jasper asked. I raised my eyebrow wondering why all of them seemed to use that phrase.

"I'm alright just the nerves I guess" I replied giving him a weak smile.

"Bella, Bella, Bella. Sweet, naive Bella. Innocent-"I cut him off. He had been walking around me shaking his head and it was beginning to make me dizzy.

"I get your point, now get on with it!" I growled at him

"Ooh feisty, I'll remember that for future events. If you know what I mean" he said giving me a leering look at wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. If anyone else had said that to me I'd probably tear them a new one but this was Jasper and despite the double meaning in his words I blushed. I wasn't embarrassed to be a virgin. I was only 16 for crying out loud, but Jasper was _legal_ so was I but he was more legal than me as his birthday was in February and he was born a year before, he could be getting his funk on right at this moment.

"Nice to know" I replied sarcastically. It was one of my defence mechanisms to embarrassment.

"Seriously Bells, you don't need to be worried. You're the best singer here. Besides me of course." He said gloatingly "Back to you Bells we're a team. Remember Jazz and Bells. We're team Jezebels!" he said proudly.

Mike and Jessica's number was starting and we listened to the opening of A Whole New World. I had designed their set. We had made a canopy and I Ben and Jasper had made graphics to show a starry night. They did pretty well, their voices sounded well together and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who agreed judging by the applaud we heard. I didn't understand why they didn't just go out they were perfect for each other but Mike was always looking for new talent and Jessica well Jessica went with anything that had a dick and gave her a second look.

I wasn't in the first section so I began primping myself for my first number. The outfit I was wearing was short and revealing but I felt _sexy _in it. I kept a dressing gown covering the outfit. The guy's didn't know what we were doing as it was meant to be an all girls number. We weren't supposed to know what they were doing but we heard them arguing over who sang the lead in Greased Lightening. They were so predictable. There were tons of other songs that they could have performed if they wanted to, but they picked the most obvious guy song. Not that ours wasn't obvious as well but they didn't know what it was and all their guesses were way to far fetched. Mike hoped we were doing a strip show it was that bad.

Lauren and Tyler went on with their duet and sang. Backstage everyone was in a flurry of nerves. Mike and Jessica were describing how amazing it felt to be out there and there was apparently word that there was a Talent Agent out their looking for something new.

Ain't No Mountain High came on I realised that Benjamin and Tia were on. They were an amazing couple. They suited each other perfectly. Benjamin was always happy, cheerful and positive. He was extremely outgoing and a bit rebellious whereas Tia was quiet and shy yet you could see how protective she was of Benjamin. They were in love, High School Sweethearts. Sometimes I got a little jealous at how they felt for each other. I wished someone could love me like that. I'd give anything for a love so pure. Their soul mates, no one could tear them apart.

When they finished everyone applauded them and they walked off stage hand in hand. Benjamin was grinning brightly and Tia had a soft smile on her face from something he was whispering in her ear. She quickly ran off to get changed and I went after. When she was done we drank the alcohol that Lauren had offered us and we applied body glitter all over ourselves and I helped her to pin her hair in place.

We looked like a bunch of sexy mammas afterwards and we went on stage to take our positions. The curtain was blocked so none of the audience could see us but the guys were going to see us in the audience. The music started and we began swaying our hips in time. Our backs were to the audience and we were all in a _position_.

The song was Lady Marmalade, Lauren was the first to sing. We had turned ourselves so that the audience could see us and I made sure I didn't look in Charlie's direction as he probably wouldn't be too pleased with what I was wearing. Tia had strolled to the centre and the rest of us were surrounding her in an arc. She was wearing a short red satin night dress, with a sheer black jacket on top. Her hair was in pigtails and she looked innocent but the way she was moving certainly wasn't.

The chorus was coming up and we got back into position:

_Giuchie, Giuchie, ya ya dada (Hey hey hey)_

We threw our hands in the air and swayed our hips in circles

_Giuchie, Giuche, ya ya here (here)_

We strolled to the front of the stage and rubbed our arms seductively down our bodies

_Mocha Chocalata ya ya (oh yea)_

We spun ourselves around and bent our bodies spinning our hips our butts rotated

_Creole Lady Marmalade_

We turned and walked back up the stage and turned around so that Jessica could begin her verse. She found this song easy and was really getting into it after her was Tia then me.

We had started walking up to various places in the audience and flirted with many guys. For mine I knew exactly how to do it.

_Hey, Hey, Hey!_

I shouted moving myself from the circle they'd encased me in

_Touch of her skin feeling silky smooth_

I walked rubbing my arms sexily and walking down the stairs

_Colour of cafe au lait alright_

I straddled Jasper and sang directly to him our mouths just inches apart everyone could see clearly what was happening and I'm pretty sure they were as shocked as I was

_Made the savage beast inside roar until he cried_

I bit his neck, pulled his hair and pulled him with me onto the stage

_More-more-more_

We danced around Jasper for the rest of it, pulling his clothes apart and everything it was amazing.

_Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir_

Would you like to sleep with me tonight indeed?

For the final lines we pushed Jasper to the ground and posed. Everyone applauded us and we even heard a few whistles and cat calls. I walked off the stage feeling immensely pleased with myself. I'm sure I got the confidence to do that from the alcohol I had earlier.

I hurriedly got dressed into a tight red dress and met Jasper on stage. We were singing our song Elephant Love Medley. The background was beautiful and platforms were everywhere for us to move around on. The scene started and I was immediately in character.

_**Jasper: **__Love is a many splendored thing, Love lifts us up where we belong, All you need is love!_

He walked around me staring right into my eyes

_**Me:**__ Please don't start that again_

I sighed and walked away from him crossing my arms

_**Jasper:**__ All you need is love_

He came right in to my face

_**Me:**__ A girl has got to eat_

I shook my head trying to convince him

_**Jasper:**__ All you need is love_

_He grabbed me round the waist and backed me up_

_**Me:**__ She'll end up on the street! (Sigh)_

I put my arms out with my palms up

_**Jasper:**__ All you need is looooove!_

He grabbed my hands and pulled me to him

_**Me:**__ Love is just a game._

We kept on with the rest of the song getting more and more into character it was amazing, it was pure exhilaration having everyone watching us but it was as if we were in our own little planet where we only saw each other.

_Now you're in, the world..._

We sang the last line looking into each others eyes. We walked off stage completely exhausted. The rest of the show went smoothly and now it was the final song. The guys number was hilarious they all went for the Elvis look but they sounded great. They were thrusting their looks and Mike even stripped a little. I had never laughed so hard.

Jasper and I walked onto stage dressed up perfectly and then I heard the music. It was That's The Way I like it from the movie From Justin to Kelly. I loved that movie a whole lot. I started dancing and singing then eventually everyone else came out as well. The audience stood up to applaud and it was loud. We bowed and walked backstage. My heart was pounding so quickly and I felt great. Everyone cheered and we hugged smiling, Jasper grabbed our stuff and we walked outside. The cool air felt great against my heated skin.

Peter, Charlotte and Charlie were outside waiting for us they came over and hugged us. We could see everyone else meeting their parents. The night had been a success and we had managed to raise money for charity.

Eventually we said our goodbyes and went to our separate vehicles but before we left Jasper called me back. I was confused but soon understood as I saw the giant purple mark on his neck.

"So Bella care to explain" he asked with a smirk.

"No, not really" and I began backing away

"I won't forget you know" he shouted out as I ran toward the cruiser.

"I don't plan on you doing so" I replied as I climbed in the front.

I was happy that day. I'd spent time with Charlie and raised money for Charity it was definitely a success. I sighed happily and sank deeper into my chair.

**Sorry about any spelling or grammar mistake. I don't have a Beta and I was rushing to get this out before midnight in GMT time. The next Chapter should be out on Wednesday or Thursday but if I update on Wednesday the chapter will be shorter. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed the story so far and stick with us on this journey as it will be worth it.**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry, I'm a day late. My internet kept mucking up yesterday and I couldn't update but no worries. Thank you to all my regular reviewers you give me the confidence to keep on writing and I wouldn't have been able to keep writing without you. Just in case anyone's confused Bella was born the same year as Jasper but since her birthday is in September she is in a lower year at school than him and it will come before Jaspers but she'll be younger. At the moment she is 16 and he is going to turn 17.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love **

**Chapter 9**

**Saturday**

Today was free time again and I wasn't sure what to do. Christmas was tomorrow, the houses were decorated and I'd bought all the presents. Jasper's was the hardest to buy as I wasn't sure what to get him. For Charlie I got him some fishing gear, I got Peter some new cufflinks and I got Charlotte a vintage dress I saw while I was out one day. She would love it; it was dark blue with a sash wrapped round the middle in a lighter blue. The sash was the same colour as her eyes so it would make them stand out. I wasn't a fashion expert or anything but even I could tell it would be beautiful on her.

I sat at the table sort of eating my cereal. Charlie was sitting next to me also eating whilst he read the newspaper. He was dressed up in his uniform ready to go to work and I knew I wouldn't be seeing him until late. The only sounds that could be heard where the sounds of us chewing our food and the occasional page rustle as Charlie turned it. Life had definitely been interesting lately. I'd been lusting after Jasper like a horny teenager and he's tried to serenade me. He was probably practicing so that when we got back to school, he'd know how to win over Christine.

Charlie was eating a full fried breakfast. I couldn't imagine how much fat there was in there, the smell of it permeated the air and suddenly I was feeling more nauseous than anything. I pushed my bowl away from me knowing that if I took another bite everything I had eaten would be on display to the world.

"Not hungry, Bells?" Charlie asked suddenly. I was unaware that he was looking at me curiously.

"No, not really" I replied playing with a piece of my hair.

"Are you sure Bells, because you hardly ever eat these days and when you do you never finish it" Charlie asked concerned. It was true I hadn't been eating properly but that was because I was so nervous because of my new found attraction to Jasper, but I wasn't going to tell him that.

"Dad, the only reason I didn't eat dinner last night was because I was so anxious about the play, I was scared I'd forget my lines or something" I replied hurriedly.

"Ok if you're sure" he replied before turning his attention back to the newspaper. He had folded it in half and I could see that he was reading the sports section. One thing I like about Charlie he didn't pry and knew when to leave things alone.

I moved my spoon around the bowl for a bit before standing up and pouring it down the sink and washing the plate. I looked out the window into the woods and I swore I saw something moving, I squinted my eyes but it had disappeared. I shook my head and paid no more attention to it.

I walked out the room and up the stairs, when I reached the top I stumbled and fell to the ground before getting up and walking back to my room. I wasn't sure what to do today, I mean now that I think about what happened the day before I was too embarrassed and ashamed to face Jasper I mean not only did I bring him on stage but I bit his neck. That's basically a love bite and we aren't anything relationship wise. I mean I'd love to be Jasper's girlfriend but I don't know if I'd ever actually take the risk because I had way too much at stake and just as much to lose. If we broke up everything would change, we'd never be the same and I'd never be able to move on because once you had Jasper you never needed anything else.

I sighed and continued rummaging through my wardrobe, I couldn't find any clothes. Well, I could just not _the_ outfit, when you get that feeling and go this; this is what I want to wear. Instead I felt like I was settling for second best. I looked through one more time sifting through each individual garment. Then I saw it. It was a red top that's waist was cinched in with a black belt. The bottom of the skirt fanned out around me. The sleeves were more like gloves attached to it. It came down to just above my knees. It would have been perfect for me to wear as red was Christmassy and I could wear some long green socks and black leather boots. Everything matched.

I had a feeling I would be seeing Renee today as after the show yesterday I just took off. She would obviously be annoyed but I just forgot about her. I couldn't decide how to feel about seeing her, if anything she was going to try to convince me to spend Christmas with her because I had spent Thanksgiving with Charlie. I didn't really get a good enough look at her because she was sitting away from Charlie and the others. Also Phil kind of blocked her as he was getting past her to get to his seat. I wondered if she had changed. Everyone always said we looked alike except she had shorter hair and laugh lines. If anything Renee would have dyed her hair or the sun would have bleached it for her.

I loved my mum, I mean how could I not, she could have chosen to abort me because she didn't want any ties to Charlie but she didn't and I guess she thought she was doing me a favour by abducting me when she left. Renee's not that bad though compared to some other mothers, she's just an eccentric, silly person who will brave new things and come to her senses later and she opened a bank account for me and has been filling it with money. I didn't like the idea of spending it because I hadn't made it myself but it was better than asking Charlie. In a way it's like Renee's paying me child support.

I tied my hair into pigtails and tied red and green bows on them. I wasn't dressed for cold weather. According to the weather forecast it was going to be freezing tonight and I considered putting on a pair of jeans but changed my mind.

I skipped across the hall landing and down the stairs. Charlie was in the living room on the phone and from what I could tell he was having a very heated discussion. His face was going through various shades of colours red, blue then purple. I was extremely worried about him but he began calming down.

"No you can't" I heard him shout. I figured the other person was replying because he was silent.

"You have no right" he continued. I crept further forward and could hear a woman shouting down the other end.

"You are the worst mother and she's better off without you!" he shouted louder. Mother, then that means......

"No Renee" Charlie countered before ending the call. He turned around and saw me standing there. The shock and surprise were evident on his face. His usual pale skin tone was still flushed but you could see the sorrow and regret on his face. He wasn't smiling and his body was hunched over. He lines around his mother and his eyes were crinkled a little from when he smiled. He was still young, not even 40 yet, yet it seemed as if everything was crashing down around him.

"She's coming" he whispered. My guts churned at the statement. I knew I had anticipated her arrival but it was an entirely different thing to have it confirmed. Except for a visit the year I moved out her I hadn't seen Renee. She would occasionally send me a few emails questioning about my life. The first time I sent her a picture of Jasper and I she wrote back saying at the end of her message _'The next time I come visit you, you have to let me meet that hot piece of man you got there! xoxo' _I still can't believe she wrote that but this is Renee you never know what to expect from her.

"When?" I asked just as quietly. My head was turned and I was staring out the window.

"She'll be here soon" he replied. This shocked me. She can't just decide she wanted to come, what if we weren't home and you should inform people ahead of time but this was Renee, when did she ever do anything by the book.

"Okay" I sighed. I wasn't unhappy about seeing my mother just unprepared, she was there last night she saw what I did. I doubt she had ever willingly sat down to hear me sing, I mean she always called it a useless talent saying that you had to be something special to make it in swimming. That would hurt but in a way I did feel special. Renee refused to have another child and though it hurt Phil, I was happy because I would be her only child. I smiled at that thought and made my way upstairs to put on my jeans.

II had only been up there for a few minutes before I heard a car pulling up, I looked out the window and sure enough I saw Phil coming out the car and going round to help Renee. I sat back on my bed not sure if I wanted to come downstairs to see her or if I should just wait until I was called. I chose the latter, it gave me sometime to compose myself and prepare myself for her. I looked at myself in the mirror wondering if I should put on some make up just so Renee thinks I'd become girly. I didn't really have much of a collection. I had a mascara wand, some nude lip gloss and various shades of eye shadow that Charlotte had given to me saying that I had to at least own the basics when in reality the most makeup I use is a chap stick but that might not really count.

I sat upstairs for a few more moments, downstairs I could hear the door slam shutting telling me they were in the house, my door was open so I could hear Renee's voice loud and clearly as she greeted Charlie. Her voice sounded the same next was Phil's voice as he greeted Charlie. It was clear that he felt awkward being around him although he had nothing to do with their breakup; that was all Renee.

"Where's Bella?" I heard Renee's voice ring loud and clearly.

"Upstairs" Charlie's gruff voice replied. I heard his voice shout my name and I knew I had to come down. I walked downstairs slowly, taking my time, trying to put off when I did meet her. I got to the end of the stairs and stood there silently.

"Mum?" I asked and I was surprised at the rush of warmth I had for her.

"Bella!" Renee exclaimed as she turned around. I didn't think I could get any more surprised. Her hair had blonde highlights in it, she was tanned and there was a _huge _something growing in her stomach. Renee waddled forward and swung her arms around me, holding me as tightly as she could in her _condition_. I couldn't believe it; she looked to be about 5 or 6 maybe even 7 months. Didn't she think to tell me over email or when she called? Phil must be so excited he was finally going to be a father. She was about to have another kid, I bet she forgot to take her birth control or something because she was firmly against having another kid. One time I thought she was going to suggest having her ovaries tied or her womb removed just so she had no chance of having a baby. Yet here she was, smiling at being pregnant. When I was little and wondered why she wouldn't have another baby she would tell me about what it was like when she was pregnant with me. She made pregnancy sound like labour and constantly going on about how much her feet hurt, how she always needed to pee and that she was completely miserable but now she was positively glowing.

"You're pregnant. Wow! You must be so excited" I said my voice full of fake enthusiasm.

"Yeah it was a complete surprise but a good one and I'm prepared, everything's going great unlike when I had you" she said smiling the whole way through. "Back then I wasn't ready to be a mother and it was a mistake of me to do so, I was young and naive but everything turned out all right. That mistake led me to the best thing that ever happened to me. Phil" she said dotingly as she walked over to grab his hand. Ouch, I'm a mistake. I know she doesn't mean to be so insensitive I just wish she would think about what she said sometimes.

"That's great mum I'm really happy for you" I said as tears fell from my eyes. Charlie had already left the room and Renee thought they were tears of joys as she had a few tears in her eyes. Phil looked at me and frowned. I guess he was wondering why I was so sad. I smiled at him and shook my head.

"Ooh there's so much that needs to be said, let's catch up" Renee pulled me with her to sit on the couch. She spent the next 2 hours enthralling me with tales of places they've travelled, showing me pictures and giving me souvenirs. She also included when she found out about the baby how excited she is. Then she went a step further by telling me that she was having a _girl_. If I wasn't gutted enough about the fact that she thought I was a mistake or that she was having another kid, she had to have a girl. I felt like she was replacing me in her life, like when I wasn't the kid she wanted she was having another one. She wanted to run a few names by me but I was saved by the doorbell. I stood up and rushed to open it and who was on the other side but My Guardian Angel. I didn't know whether to be glad that he was here or scared that he was going to meet Renee.

"Hey Bella, you look nice" Jasper noted with a nod of his head. He looked delicious as always and I stopped myself from unconsciously licking my lips.

"Hey erm...Renee's here" I said to him by way of warning.

"Really I've never had a chance to meet your mum. I bet she's just like you" he said curiously as if I was the one stopping him from meeting her.

"Yeah, yeah you could...err... say that come in" I chuckled nervously before grabbing Jaspers arm and leading him into the living room. Phil was now sitting on the couch next to Renee rubbing her arm comfortingly. They hadn't noticed us yet so I ushered Jasper into an empty seat before making the introductions.

"Jasper this is my mum Renee and her husband Phil. The giant bump on her stomach is their future kid and my future sister." I said by way of introduction.

"Renee, Phil this is Jasper my best friend" I continued. Renee was clearly excited to meet Jasper and I prayed she didn't say anything embarrassing. I prayed even more that she didn't mention Travis. I wouldn't be able to handle talking about that without the risk of breaking down. I'd spent so many years hiding from the reality of it and here was Renee who would bring him up, unknowingly releasing a whole lot of problems. I had nightmares every night after that and in them they were usually worse than what actually happened. In them he would actually rape me or kill me sometimes they would seem so real and I was scared that if I told anyone, everyone would turn their backs on me but with the help of Phil, Doctors and many types of pills I got them under control.

It was only 2 months before I moved to Forks that they stopped but I still had an almost full packet that I kept with me in case. I had only taken one out of it and that was to just be sure that the nightmares would stop. I hated taking them, they really messed me up. One of them called Doxylamine really messed me up. My skin always felt as if something was crawling over it and though it stopped the nightmares I was always happy that even Renee began noticing something was wrong. But when I stopped I would start shaking and be very nauseous. It made me forgetful and I was often confused.

"So you're the Jasper I've heard so much about" Renee said turning herself to face him. She pulled her dress lower and placed her hands on them. She had put a lot of emphasis on the so but I don't think I talked about him that much, did I?

"You're even better looking in person than I thought you would be." Renee went on. I mean really did she not have a sense of embarrassment. "How long have you and Bella been going out?" she asked, the first of many questions and one long interrogation.

They left about an hour after that with a promise to come visit them in Jacksonville. They had a flight to catch that night so they needed to leave quickly. I sat frozen to my chair mortified at what Renee said. It took us about 10 minutes to convince her we weren't going out but then she started talking about how as young teens we may get these urges and that we shouldn't give into these urges without a condom or birth control. She started telling him about some childhood stories and even went as far as to say that I'd never kissed a boy before. I just about died. If a hole opened in the ground, I would have happily jumped in it.

"So Bella." Jasper drawled. "Your mum seems...nice" he said, laughter shining in his eyes. They looked blue today just plain blue. They were gorgeous. It was like the colour of a swimming pool when the sun hits it and it sparkles.

"Ugh shut up Jasper. " I said burying my head in one of the couch pillows.

"Hey, what did I do?" he asked. I didn't think he was expecting an answer but when he looked at me I could see that he did.

"Nothing, it's not your fault. It's just, Renee she can be so embarrassing sometimes" I answered.

"I liked her, she seemed like a ball full of fun" Jasper went on.

"You would say that but you weren't the one staying in crappy motel after crappy motel when you were younger because she thought it would be an adventure"

Jasper got out his phone to call Charlotte to pick us up; Charlie was going to go straight down to La Push after work, so I went upstairs to pack my bag. I had just come back from the bathroom with my shower bag in hand to see Jasper sitting on my bed. He had his head in his hands and it seemed as if he were in a dilemma. I dropped the shower bag on my desk almost silently and sat down next to Jasper. I touched his hand and he flinched as if he were shocked I was there. He turned his head and looked at me. I saw his eyes flick down to my lips and knew he wanted to kiss me. I tilted my head and leaned in just as he did. His lips had just brushed mine when we heard the door ring. I heard him groan and silently curse before he stood up from the bed. He reached an arm out to pick up my bag and walked to my desk to get my shower bag as well. I sat watching him from my perch on the bed. He came over and gave me an arm to pull myself up. I walked over to my wardrobe to grab a thick jacket and I slipped on my leather boots as I had planned.

I walked down the stairs and he followed. I left a note for Charlie saying I was sleeping round Jaspers and I left. Peter and Charlotte were sitting in the car waiting for us this time. That was odd as I hardly ever spoke to him. I sat down in my chair and unzipped my jacket. The heating was on full blast and I was worried I would end up with sweat patches.

"Hey Bella how's it going?" Peter asked cheerfully glancing at me through the mirror.

"I'm alright Mr Whitlock" I answered finding it slightly awkward to be talking to him.

"Ah, ah, ah Bella. What did I tell you? No need to be so formal around me, call me Peter or Petey or whatever." He replied.

"Okay" I said flashing him a smile. The rest of the ride was filled with idle talking about random stuff. Tonight Charlotte and I were going to stuff the Turkey and start cooking, we were going to do all the baking tonight as well, then the next morning we were going to finish cooking the Turkey and make all the other stuff as well.

When we got to the house, Jasper and I immediately went up to his room, Jasper wanted to show me a beat he was working on, on his drums. I'm still surprised that Jasper played the drums as he was usually a calm person and you wouldn't expect him to want to play such a loud instrument.

I sat on his bed holding his guitar. He had been playing a beat and it was extremely catchy. I felt like writing a song to go with it but I wasn't sure where to start. I flopped back on his bed and began thinking of titles.

_Tempting Trouble _

_Lost_

_Honey Baby Sweetheart_

_Runaway_

I read them out to Jasper and we came up with a few more. Eventually we both agreed on a title and a song formed in my head and I hurried to write the lyrics out. I couldn't write fast enough because just as I wrote one thing out another, better thing would pop into my mind. Music came and soon we had a whole song. Together we sang it at each other laughing as we went. After I helped Charlotte I changed into my pyjamas and collapsed from exhaustion. I slept soundly that night with Jasper's arm wrapped tightly around my waist.

**Well this Chapters done. I'm making a poll on my profile about which title you would like a song to be written about. Others will be added so check it out. The next Chapter is Christmas as you know and there's going to be a surprise. I still haven't got a Beta so I apologise for any spelling mistakes or grammar errors in advance. If you spot any tell me in your review so I can fix it. I've already got about 3 pages done of Chapter 10 but I don't think it will be out until sometime next week preferably Wednesday because I have to send my laptop to get fixed, but stay tuned as I might be able to get it out earlier. Don't forget to review and goodbye for now!**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, I understand that I haven't updated in forever and I really am sorry. My laptop's still not fixed so I'm using my sisters one. I had to start this chapter all over again because everything was saved on my memory stick and of all my chapters were fine but this is the one that went corrupt. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed; listed my story as a favourite or put me on alert. It really means the world to me. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 10**

**Christmas**

The first thing I noticed when I looked out the window was white. It was everywhere, on the ground high up in trees and drifting silently to the ground. Everywhere looked so pure, so clean. There were no footprints in the snow and I had a sudden urge to start running through it bare feet. It was a new experience for me, I had only ever heard of snow, seen it in movies, never actually witnessing it myself. Until now I thought deviously. I opened the window and was instantly assaulted with a cold breeze. I stuck my palm out and watched as one lone snowflake danced its way into my palm. I brought my hand inside to see it but was instead met with a small puddle of water.

I brought my hand back outside but this time I scooped up some of the snow that had accumulated on the window ledge. My hand froze instantly and I could see them turning blue. I started shivering but held my mouth close so my teeth wouldn't chatter. I turned around and looked at Jasper. He looked so angelic lying there, completely defenceless, helpless. _Perfect_ I thought as I stalked towards him. For once I was the predator and he was my prey. On the other hand there was nothing angelic about the way he kissed.

I lifted my hand in the air and threw it at him. Within a second he was alert and on the ground clutching his head from where he had hit it. Under his breath I could hear him muttering vile curses and I couldn't resist laughing at him. He stood up and glared at me so hard that if looks could kill I would be nothing more than a few ashes.

"You think that's funny Bella?" he asked as he began walking towards me. I began breathing heavily and backed away from him. He reminded me of a vampire his eyes had turned so black, the more I ran the closer he came.

"Y-yes" I stuttered. My throat had become unusually dry and I was having a hard time swallowing.

"Well you know you have to pay, don't you?" he asked seductively. He lifted up his hand and slowly stroked up and down my bare arms, barely touching me. I was wearing no bra and my tank top covered nothing and the shiver that racked through my body from my desire for him or the cold –I wasn't sure- had my nipples standing hard and at attention. Jasper dipped his head and start nuzzling into my neck. He kissed the sensitive spot underneath my ear and I had to restrain a moan.

"Answer me Bella" he went on. He lifted up his head to look at me. I could barely separate his pupil from his iris. I wanted him to touch me everywhere and anywhere, it felt like every nerve ending in my body was on high alert. All I could see and breathe was Jasper. He was like a fire and had consumed me completely.

"Please" I whimpered. Sometimes I couldn't believe how innocent and inexperienced I was, I mean apart from kissing Jasper which wasn't even really for pleasure on his side I had no experience. He dipped his head and leaned down towards me. My eyes fluttered closed as I anticipated his kiss. I could smell, _taste_ his breath because of how close we were.

"Bella, sweetie can you come down here for a minute, I need some help baking the cake" Charlotte shouted from downstairs. I sighed and leaned my head against Jaspers shoulder. Charlotte had a gift of interrupting us whenever we were going to kiss.

"Later" I heard Jasper whisper as he kissed my forehead. I walked around him and grabbed a jacket slung on a chair. As I slipped out the door I put it on, I could see Charlotte in the kitchen mixing a batch. Peter was nowhere to be seen.

I walked into the kitchen and grabbed an apron, the radio was on and Karma Chameleon was blaring out. Charlotte was singing along with it happily. Her cheeks were flushed pink and she was smiling. I wondered what that was about but decided to ask her about it later.

"Hey Char" I said. Despite the fact that I thought she had really bad timing I still loved and respected her in a way I didn't my own mother. If anything, the relationship I had was Charlotte was stronger than any bond I'd formed with Renee all my life.

"Morning Bells, ready to get down and dusty?" she asked, flicking some flour at me for emphasis.

"You sound like your preparing for battle or something" I laughed at her as I got out another bowl and began mixing ingredients.

"Well this is a bit of a battle. It is officially 9:07 am. Lunch shall be served at 12:00pm on the dot. We have a lot to do and as we know these boys are useless!" she shouted. She reminded me of an army officer marching her troops into battle.

"Hey I heard that" Peter shouted from what sounded like the living room.

"Good, you were supposed to" she replied shaking her at the silliness of the situation.

I laughed and got down to work. I shaped two dozen cookies and put them in the oven along with the cake Charlotte was baking. Whilst she set the table I cleaned the kitchen. It was fairly simple. I wiped down the work surfaces and any flour that would have gone on the kitchen cabinets, and then I washed and rinsed out the plates and bowls in the sink. It took about half an hour. I checked on the food in the oven and saw that they still had a bit too go.

I headed out to see if Charlotte needed any help but when I walked in I saw Peter holding her and they were looking at each other. At first I thought they were just staring when I realised they were talking but with their eyes. In a single look they were expressing the entirety of their feelings to each other. I walked out of the room and slumped against the kitchen wall. I wanted that, I wanted to experience those feelings. To love someone and know they loved me too. I didn't know I was crying until I saw them dropping on the tiles of the kitchen floor. I wiped my eyes and stood up. I walked over to the oven and opened it up. The cookies had turned a lovely golden colour so I brought them out and left them to cool. I then took the cake out and left it to cool.

I took the pre made roast potatoes and poured them into the oven to start cooking the clock on the wall showed that it was 9:51am so there was still time. I put in all the other little snacks and bits and bobs that go with a Christmas dinner into the oven and shut it. I grabbed a small bowl from a kitchen cupboard and began mixing some icing.

"No don't worry about doing that Bella, I will" Charlotte said as she came up beside me.

"Don't worry about it. I like drawing, remember?" I replied.

"Yeah but still. I'm the adult here; I should be doing more work." She countered.

"Yes but I still need to pull my fair share" I went on.

"Oh my, why don't you both just share the work out even?" I heard Jasper say. I turned towards the doorway and saw him standing there.

"Hello son" Charlotte said before turning her back on him to take some sugar down. Whilst she had her back turned Jasper winked at me and walked out the room. I felt my face burn and ducked my head so my hair could cover the redness.

We worked together diligently and by 11:30am we were done. The Turkey was in the oven keeping warm and whilst Charlotte laid the cake and cookies out on the table rushed upstairs to shower and get dressed. Inside the shower, I couldn't help but think about Jaspers hand on me this morning. He had barely touched me yet my body felt like it was strung tightly. The hot water cascaded down my body and I watched as a drop of water trailed down my body before blending with the water again.

I got out and got dressed. I was wearing a dress top that came down to my knee. It was a silky material and felt soft and cool against my skin. It had a black belt that clipped together in the front. I dried my hair and let it dry naturally. The dress was in one of Jaspers favourite colours – red. I would have preferred to get it in a turquoise colour but just the thought of Jasper had me buying the dress quicker than you can say Jack Robinson.

I put on some black tights and the outfit was complete, I walked down the stairs towards the dining room and was surprised to see Charlie sitting there. I guess he had come because a) It was my first Christmas in Forks or b) He couldn't get to La Push, either way I was happy he was here and showed him I was by giving him a giant hug. I knew he needed support after seeing Renee yesterday. He still loved her, I knew it deep down in my heart that he did and somewhere in him he thought he still had a chance but seeing her yesterday, how happy she was just confirmed that he didn't. I could understand is pain, we were both second best to her, she rejected us both his rejection by her far more painful. At least in a strange way, I left before she could kick me out or suggest that I live with Charlie. I know she means well but sometimes I just wonder why I was the unlucky kid who got stuck with her.

When I released him, he looked baffled. Charlie and I weren't the kind of people to openly express how we felt about people, so it must have taken him off guard. He patted me on the back twice and straightened up in his seat. I walked around him and sat next to him. On one end of the table sat Peter on the other Charlie, next to me sat Charlotte on my right so the only person missing was Jasper, who appeared a few seconds later, his hair still damp and his shirt not completely buttoned up. I couldn't help being drawn to the sliver of skin exposed and stared unabashedly at it.

He looked slightly nervous and sat down in a seat, directly across from me. I cocked my eyebrow at him and he shook his head, silently telling me this wasn't the time. _Later_ such a simple word yet it held so many connotations. Did he mean we'd pick up from where we left off? Or did he mean that we'd have to talk about we were? Or was he going to tell me his heart still belonged to Christine and that this was just some kind of practice? There were endless possibilities but all I could really do was wait.

Peter bent his head and said a short prayer basically thanking God for our health, the food and shelter. We then said grace and dug into the meal. It was delicious. The Turkey was packed full of so much flavour it was moist but not wet but it wasn't dry. It was just perfect. The cake literally melted on my tongue. It had my taste buds dancing and singing for joy.

The adults cracked open a bottle of wine and we moved the party into the living room. On the mantle piece sat a picture of Jasper and his parents when he was younger. He looked about 4 or 5 and he was missing his two front teeth. His hair was also darker than it is now. There was also a girl in the picture. Her hair was a blonde colour that was put into pigtails. Her bright blue eyes were sparkling and you could tell she was laughing. The two could have been twins for all I knew they looked so much alike, but as far as I knew Jasper was an only child.

"Time for pictures" Charlotte said as she started setting up her camera on a stand. She put on a timer and we all congregated under the tree to pose. After that we began opening presents. Charlotte had given me some jewellery and a new top, Peter had gotten me a fancy set of pencils for sketching. There were black and white ones as well as coloured ones, it was perfect. Charlie gave me driving lessons that wasn't the best present. That came from Jasper. It was a guitar pick but it was engraved with _Bella + Jasper _and on the back it said _Forever_. The writing was in silver calligraphy and had a diamond heart engraved under the _Forever_.

Everyone liked what I got them but when it came to Jaspers present from Peter and Charlotte silence fell over us. It was a small box that at first glance didn't look like much but when he opened it, there sat on its little bed was a key chain. He picked it up and glanced at it his eyes had widened dramatically and his mouth had dropped open.

"Why don't we step outside Jasper?" Charlotte asked. I looked around and noticed that Peter had mysteriously disappeared. We walked towards the door and opened it. I felt a small breeze and saw that snow was still falling lightly but that wasn't what had caught my attention. Parked directly in front of the house was a silver car. It was so clean that it practically sparkled. I heard the engine cut and out stepped Peter smiling. He came towards where Jasper had stood a few steps in front of the door.

"I think this belongs to you son" he said as he pulled Jaspers right hand, palm up and placed a key in it. "Take good care of her son" he went on before leaving and going back into the warmth of the house. I stood there watching Jasper. He hadn't moved from his spot and I wanted to call out to him but wasn't sure what to say.

He turned around and smiled at me. His eyes were sparkling brightly and I couldn't help but smile back at him. It was one of those really infectious smiles that no matter how sad or annoyed you were it would light up your day. He took a step towards me and stopped. I frowned wondering why; he glanced above my head before looking at the key again and placing it in his pocket.

He smiled at me again and took another step towards me. I couldn't help but be a little nervous. I grabbed the blanket I had grabbed before we came out and pulled it around me a little tighter. It was slightly chilly and I shivered a little. He stepped forward again and he was in front of me. He took another step and soon he was invading my personal space. I looked up at him and suddenly felt warm. It was like a flood that went through me, tingling my senses and causing goose bumps to appear on my arm. His hand cupped my cheek and I leaned into his touch. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the smile on my face. We were odd, best friends who kissed but nothing more just best friends…

I opened my eyes and saw him staring at me intently. He leaned forward and whispered in my ear "It's later". His voice was sultry and dripping with meaning. I felt myself falling deeper and deeper for him. He put his hands on my shoulder and I felt the blanket fall from my shoulder and pool in a mess on the ground by my feet.

"Jasper" his name barely audible on my lips, there was a small smile playing on his lips. One I rarely saw, one that had only ever been directed at me once. He bent his head and began nuzzling my neck, it tickled a little but then he began kissing my neck up till the hollow gap beneath my ear, down to my collar bones where he scraped them gently with his teeth. I had this weird feeling of wanting him to bite me, to mark me as his. In school I had seen a number of girls with them.

I remembered one lunch time when I was talking to Jessica. We had come to some sort of friendship and hung out sometimes. She had said how when she had been making out with Mike how he had begun sucking on her neck, applying a little pressure until a mark appeared. I was happy for her, Mike had been interested in me at first but when they got together you could see how happy they were together.

"What do you want Bella?" he went back to kissing my neck slipping his arms round my waist and puling me to him. I mumbled something incoherently against his chest, I breathed in the scent of him and it felt like he was surrounding me completely. It was a little frightening to know that the warmth of his embrace had managed to render me unable to form a coherent sentence yet at the same time I felt safe, _home._

"Say it out loud" he said again, his voice clear and commanding yet it riddled his deep breathing hard as he awaited my answer. I looked up and noticed something hanging above the door; I couldn't see it clearly as the only light was coming from the living room door.

"Kiss me" I said my voice not revealing my inner turmoil, I had made eye contact with him but dropped my gaze to the floor quickly.

I looked back at Jasper, his eyes had blazed and darkened with a playful lust. He tilted his head lower and when his lips touched mine it sent shockwaves hurtling through my body like an electric current. His lips were cool against mine and I couldn't help but sigh. It felt like one of those movie kisses except Jasper was the only star on this set.

My body came to life and my dormant arms responded by rising up brushing the soft skin of his cheek as it went sliding round his neck. The kiss at first was chaste and hesitant like he was testing the waters as afraid as I was but soon it became heated and passionate and I couldn't get enough of him. A heat began in the pit of my stomach and began spreading. The kiss had started out slow but soon became so intense that if all I saw, smelt, breathed for the rest of my life was him then I'd be happy. I tangled my hands in his hair and used it to pull him closer to me.

It didn't compare to our first kiss which was simply a chaste one but this one was fuelled by desire. I didn't know long we were out there in the falling snow. All I knew was that when we did stop I could barely open my eyes, my lips were sore and swollen yet I'd do it all over again.

**Aww! So they finally got that kiss, but what does that mean for their friendship are things going to change but what about Alice and Edward. If you want to find out tune in next time for another Chapter of Runaway Love…. Don't forget to R&R. I m currently sitting awake at nearly half four in the morning so I can get this finished for you. I am still working from my sister's laptop but I have already started Chapter 11. I hope that after posting that one I can get into a regular flow of updating. Chapter 11 should hopefully be out on Saturday or Sunday but check in case I update earlier. Alice is finally joining the party but what does this mean for our two almost lovers. Bella's having a few conflicting thoughts it seems. I still haven't got a beta so if you notice any grammar mistakes can you let me know about them so they can be changed. As always enjoy the story!**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	11. Chapter 11

**So that I could give you a chapter quicker we won't be meeting Alice properly. Took us awhile but we finally got there. Thanks for sticking with me so far lot's of Drama to come so stay tuned. All lyrics in this Chapter are written by me for this story. Some songs that do appear will be used again later on.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love **

**Chapter 11**

I had been living in Forks for a year and would be a sophomore when we started school in 5 weeks time. At the moment we were currently lounging on Jasper's bed in silence. It wasn't uncomfortable; we just didn't feel the need to speak. He was strumming a tune on his guitar. He had to get a new one because a leak in the house had gotten his other one wet. He had his eyes closed and looked absolutely peaceful. A small smile played on the corner of his mouth and I could've have sworn he was asleep.

A small knock on his bedroom door and Charlotte came in smiling. Over the years I've lived here we've become closer. We have a lot in common yet we're so different. She's really easy to speak to and after I moved here she took over as the mother figure in my life. She gave me advice on love and life, boys and clothes a bit like Jane. They'd get along if they ever met. Charlotte was always saying how I was the daughter she never had and Peter took immense joy from embarrassing me and Jasper with comments about how 'He shouldn't let me get away' and that 'I was a keeper'. Not that the thought of being married to Jasper wasn't appealing we weren't really in a relationship yet I refused to call it friends with benefits seeing as how we hardly ever kissed –much.

"Hey kids, Peter and I are going out and there are apparently new people moving into Forks today a family of 3 according to Mrs Stanley. I bumped into her this morning on my morning jog. She seems really excited about it, I sometimes wonder if she 's forgotten she's married" she said as she walked away.

I glanced at Jasper wondering what he thought of the news but he seemed simply uninterested about them or he was hiding his curiosity quite well. I wondered if the family would have any children my age. Though I'd been here two years the closest friend I had was Jasper. I got along well with Angela and she was easy to talk to but with Jasper everything just felt so natural and we just flowed well together.

I decided that when I went home later I would ask Charlie about them because seeing as he was the Chief of Police he would know what was happening. I flopped back on the bed and winced at the tender spot on my head from when I'd fallen down the stairs a few days earlier. Don't ask me how I did it as I was still amazed that it had actually happened when I woke up in hospital having blacked out for a bit. There was no real injury and I was dismissed that same day, they prescribed some pain medication if I needed it. They currently sat in my dresser drawer along with all the other drugs that I refused to take. Maybe I was masochistic but I felt that by going through the pain alone it would make me a stronger person with the exception of childbirth.

Whilst Renee was still pregnant I flew down to visit her for awhile the first 2 days consisted of us sat in the living room watching birth tapes. It gave me a whole new respect for Renee any woman who could give birth once and could go back and do it again was something to be admired. I could see why Renee didn't want to have another child but over the past two years, we were re kindling some of the closeness we had before Phil came. She wasn't really a mother figure to me now more of a sister or best friend.

The last time I visited her, Phil was away for a game. We were sat on the couch in the late evening sun. It cast shadows over everything. I had my head in her lap and she was playing with my hair. Nessie lay sleeping upstairs; through the baby monitor we could hear her even breathing. It was a moment for us. I couldn't believe that we were having one of our rare mother-daughter bonding times.

"Bella" she had said, before sighing and shaking her head. "Bella, sweetie you know that no matter what has happened that I do love you, okay." She said.

"I know" I whispered in reply because although it didn't always feel like it, it was true. "I love you too, mum" I had said. She had gasped and tears filled her eyes. I didn't get why until I had realised what I had said. _Mum ._It wasn't that I hadn't called her that before it's just that I was doing it in our little moment.

"I love you too sweetie" she went on bending down to hug me as best as she could.

I smiled at the memories, the pain of my head long forgotten. Jasper was still strumming a riff on his guitar, at first I thought he was humming but when I strained my ears, I heard words.

_She was standing there_

_Dressed to the nines_

_Beautiful long hair_

_And she looked divine_

_I took a step towards her_

_And I thought she took one back_

_I told myself no sir_

_It's time my heart unpacked_

It was a beautiful song but I guessed that it was un complete seeing as how he kept stopping every now and then to write something down. It sounded like it was going to be a love song or a dream. According to Jasper, he was over Christine and she was now in College but I couldn't help but wonder when another girl would come and take his interest. Like I said before Jasper wasn't hard on the eyes, he was charming but loving and sweet, any girl who ended up with him must be something special, but what did that mean for us? The only real attention I got was from losers and perverts. Mike and Jessica had broken up so he was on my trail again and Eric for some reason honestly believes we have a chance. Ever since that day when Jasper had kissed so many things had happened. I still wonder what would have happened if he didn't kiss me. Where would we be now?

I hated the fact that I was depressing myself, it was something I could do really easily as well but before I never realised I was doing it. If I was still living in Phoenix I would have probably drawn my curtains shut, dressed in black and sat in the dark making myself miserable until the next day when I'd tell myself that Jasper was something to look forward to. He kept me going even if he wasn't there; he really was my Guardian Angel.

I looked back at Jasper and stood to walk out the room, at least I was until I felt something holding my trouser leg. It was Jasper; I guessed that somewhere along the line, he must have fallen asleep because he looked extremely drowsy.

"Where you going?" he asked. His voice slightly slurred as though he'd been drinking.

"I'm just going out to make a call Jazz" I answered. Ever since Renee and I'd gotten closer, Jasper was worried that I'd move back in with her and Phil and of course Nessie, but as much as I loved them, it was time for Renee to grow up a little and act just that bit more responsible. She was doing a good job though; she was going to parenting classes, reading books and everything. Her relationship with Phil and his family had improved immensely. Phil's mother even apologised to Renee for some of the things she'd said. I was flying out there for a week and we were having a family barbeque. I missed everyone but probably Jane and Alec a lot. Especially Alec, I remember the times when Jane would go out and he'd take me up to his room to just hang out. Sometimes we'd talk or sit in silence, he had a weird habit of stroking my hair, but I loved it and it never failed to make me feel sleepy.

I stepped into the hallway outside Jasper's room and walked towards my one. I reached into my pocket and took out my phone; scrolling through the contacts until I got to the number I wanted. I held my breath not completely certain if I wanted them to answer or not but knowing that I'd be gutted if they didn't. The phone rang once, twice, three times until a voice answered.

"Hello" Carmen said. Her Spanish accent shining through.

"Hi Carmen, its Bella, is Tanya there?" I asked.

"Bella, estimado. How are you?" she asked.

"I'm fine Carmen. How about yourself and Eleazar?" I answered politely.

"We're fine. Here Tanya is jumping up and down excitedly as we speak. Let me give her the phone before she gets hurt."

"Hello Bella!" Tanya squealed excitedly. She was out of hospital, the leukaemia out of her system. Today was her birthday though; I'd sent her, her present the day before so it should have reached her by now.

"Hello Tanya. Happy Birthday" I said. I missed her so much, she was adorable and I loved her to bits as though she were my own.

"I wish you were hear Bella. It's so much fun. Daddy got a bouncy castle and a big pink cake and a magician." She said slightly sad.

"Have fun Tanya" I said. "And even though I'm not with you in person, I am in your heart" I went on.

"I love you Bella" she whispered.

"I love you too" I answered her in reply.

"Forever" she asked.

"Forever" I smiled

"Do you want to speak to Jasper? I asked.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" she squealed.

I stood up and began walking towards Jaspers room. He was sitting on the bed when I got there, I handed him the phone silently and walked out of the room. I headed downstairs to the kitchen to grab some ice-cream, although we lived in Forks today was one of those rare days when you could kind of see the sun in the sky. It was a bit of a shame that we were spending it indoors but soon I would be in Phoenix, back in the sun. I would miss Jasper but I missed the sun a lot.

I sat eating my ice cream on the kitchen table, plain vanilla but 4% lighter. It had only 79 calories, I liked it, I liked it a lot. I felt the ice cream melting in my mouth and could feel how cool it was as it slid down my throat. I moaned out loud but couldn't find it in myself to be embarrassed about it.

Jasper still hadn't come down yet so I assumed that he was either still talking to Tanya or had fallen asleep. I figured since we had nothing better to do today that we could just go and visit the new people either that or just stay in and be creative.

I let my mind drift off to the new family, what would they be like? Why would they move to Forks? I was still hoping that I would become friends with them if they had a daughter my age or even a son. I remembered the picture on the mantle in the living room and went back to study it. Since I had first noticed on Christmas day I couldn't pull my mind from it. I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame, yet I never had the courage to actually ask about the little girl. I guessed that she was related to Jasper somehow I just couldn't guess which way. Maybe she was a distant cousin or a good friend of the family. I knew the only way to get answers was to ask the questions yet I was apprehensive about doing so.

I sighed and put no more thought towards it, I walked back towards the kitchen to finish my ice cream when I saw Jasper sitting in a seat across from mine. I couldn't see his expression but his hands were clenched tightly in front of them, the phone lying idly off to the side. I walked up behind him and stroked his hair, I could never get tired of running my hand through his honey blonde locks, they were so soft yet he could never get them to stay straight.

"You alright?" I asked quietly. I stopped running my hands through his hair and instead sat down next to me.

"Yeah, yeah it's just- nothing. Don't worry your pretty little head about it" he said throwing in a smile for good measure.

"Oh, ok" I said a little disappointed.

"Come on, let's meet the new neighbours he said grabbing my hand.

"Wait!" I shouted at him. He turned around confused.

"I haven't finished my ice cream" I said sheepishly, looking down.

"Okay, while you do that, I'll grab my keys and our shoes and jackets." He said and took off up the stairs again.

Ever since Jasper got his car we were always on the move, we could go most places and leave as early as we wanted. It was great; I could tell Jasper loved how much independence that came with getting the car. Peter had retired from the army claiming that he had missed a lot of his son's life due to it and he didn't want to miss anymore. He fell back on his degree and now works as a Physical specialist for people who require treatment due to accidents.

I hurriedly ate my ice cream and rinsed my bowl out in the sink. Jasper came downstairs and I slipped on my trainers and jacket. It was a cool day in Forks no rain in sight but I took my umbrella with me just in case. We walked out to his car and like the gentleman he is he opened it for me and closed it afterwards before walking round to his side and starting the car soon after. We drove around aimlessly for a while but unsure of where to start looking. Jasper turned towards me as if expecting me to have the answer.

"How about we go ask Jessica, I mean Charlotte did say that her mum was excited about it and chances are she's already met them" I said.

"Yeah, good idea which way is it to hers again?" he asked focusing on the road.

"You know where the Newton's shop is, well-"I went on explaining the instructions to him.

It didn't take us very long to get there and with Jasper's driving, it took even less time. Mrs Stanley, was tending to her front garden, she was wearing a pair of skimpy denim shorts and a tight white t-shirt with a colourful bra underneath. I glanced at Jasper and could see him silently pleading with his eyes that I was the one to ask her. I open my door and get out walking towards, the closer I get I can hear her singing a song I had never heard before.

"Mrs Stanley" I said. When I got a little closer I noticed that she was also wearing a pair of ear phones.

"Mrs Stanley!" I repeated louder. She jumped and turned towards me dropping her shovel on the floor, grabbing her heart as best as she could with her obvious breast implants.

"Bella! Sweetie, what a surprise" she said rushing forward to embrace me. She was taller than me so I suffocated a little in her chest.

"Hello Mrs Stanley" I repeated for the third time.

"Bella" she said breaking the word into two parts so it sounded like _'Bel-la' _"What have I told you, call me Kelly." She went on.

"Ok Kelly" I smiled.

"Jessica's not in but you're welcome to hang here with me" she offered.

"That's alright. I actually came here to see you"

"Really?" she asked surprised.

"Of course. It's just that I was wondering if you knew where the new neighbours lived." I asked coyly.

"Yes, I do actually. A couple and their daughter. She's really short in a pixie kind of way but the dad well he can take me out any day. If you go to the next road over you might still see the moving vans but in case you don't, it's number 28." she winked at me.

"Thank you so much. I'll see you later then" I said already backing away to the car.

"Yes Bella and don't be a stranger. Maybe you and your dad can come round for dinner one day?" she asked hopefully.

"Maybe" I said. When I got back into the car, Jasper was staring at me as if judging my emotions.

"They live the next road over. Number 28" I said pointing in the direction she had told me. Jasper put the car in drive and pulled out onto the road and soon we were pulling up outside the house. It was a big house with a Victorian style theme. There were no moving vans but I saw two cars parked in the drive way. Jasper parked outside and I waited as he came to open the door for me. I was nervous to say the least and according to Jasper's expression he was too.

"Ready?" he asked me as we walked up the pathway.

"Ready" I answered. We laced our hands together and he squeezed my hand before removing it to ring the doorbell.

The door opened almost immediately and we came face to face with a young girl, no taller than 4"3.

"Hi!" she said perkily. She smiled at us and all my nervousness washed away from me. I turned towards Jasper and saw his eyes clouded over and his face full with an emotion I couldn't decipher as he looked at the girl. She looked at him and her smile grew even impossibly wider.

"I've been waiting for you" she said to him.

"I'm sorry ma'am" he replied.

**So I'm going to leave it there. It's late and I'm tired. I got it out on Saturday and that's good enough for me. More Alice action in the next Chapter. I go back to school on Monday so I'm not sure when I'll have the next chance to update but hopefully it will be on Thursday or Friday maybe earlier. I'm apologising in advance for any grammar errors please tell me so that I can fix them. R&R.**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you for all the reviews that you have been giving me, they encourage me to write. I know this Chapters' short but I've had the worst week ever and didn't have enough time to write. I also realised my mistake in the last chapter. Bella had only been living in Forks for a year sorry for that.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 12**

"I've been waiting for you" she said to him.

"I'm sorry ma'am" he replied.

I was confused and didn't understand a thing that was happening but before I had time to try and figure it out she was inviting us in and we were walking into her living room. The house was very modern and decorated in a neutral colour scheme. The hallway was a beige colour with a mirror in the hall and a vase of flowers.

We followed her and turned right into a room which I found out was the living room. The walls in here like in the hallway were also a beige colour. There was a couch and two single chairs decorated around the room as well as several family photos.

"Take a seat" she said. I quickly sat on the couch and Jasper chose a single seat. I looked at her again and only noticed that she was wearing a red dress which stood out in contrast with her jet black hair. Mrs Stanley had definitely been right in describing her as a pixie because she reminded me f those garden fairies that you would see illustrated in children's books.

She took a seat on the other end of the couch which just happened to be opposite Jasper. She smiled at him again and shock crossed her face.

"Oh" she suddenly exclaimed. "I'm so rude, I forgot to introduce myself." She turned towards me and scooted forward on the couch.

"I'm Mary-Alice Brandon but please call me Alice" she said.

"Well then, I'm Isabella Swan but please call me Bella and that's Jasper" I said nodding my head in his direction.

"I'm starting my sophomore year like you. We could be in the same classes. Oh it'd be so much fun!" she exclaimed.

"How did you know I was going to be a sophomore?" I asked suspiciously.

"I had this feeling," she said an odd tone in her voice. Her eyes had clouded over but she shook her head and they were clear again.

"Like a sixth sense?" Jasper asked suddenly jumping into the conversation. Until then I realised he hadn't said much.

"Yeah, like a sixth sense" she answered. They were silent for a moment and I couldn't help feeling like a third wheel.

"Bella" she said suddenly. "I just know we're going to be the best of friends." She went on hugging me again. I couldn't help but be swept into her happiness, she was just contagious.

"Same here Alice" I answered.

We stayed talking at her house for a few more hours. Her parents came down and introduced themselves to us. When we eventually left the sky had grown dark and I had grown tired. My stomach ached because apart from the ice cream and a piece of toast, I hadn't eaten all day.

"Alice, I think we need to get going now" I said to her. She looked sad but nodded her agreement.

"You're right. When can I see you guys again?" she asked.

I gave her my number and Jaspers and we stood to leave. She walked us to the door and waved until we could see her no more. In the car we were silent; Jasper was driving way past the speed limit as if trying to speed up the journey home. He had worry lines etched into his forehead and he was frowning as well.

"Jasper" he was silent

"Jazz" he still did not reply

"Jasper!" I shouted at him. He pressed on the brake and I was flung forward into the wind screen. Luckily I was wearing my seat belt but that didn't stop it from pressing tightly into my skin and most likely leaving a dark red mark. He pressed his forehead into the steering wheel and stayed thee for a few moments.

"Jasper, are you alright?" I asked. He had never been like this before and I was scared.

"Bella!" he shouted at me. "Just…just leave it" he said before restarting the car. He dropped me off at home with a curt goodbye and before I could even reach the door he had driven off.

xXx

The next couple of days passed by in a blur of sadness and misery. I had written and drawn more depressing art than ever before. Jasper had clearly been ignoring me, I had called him several times, but they had gone to voice mail. I had made the walk down to his house as well but he was always 'out'. I was frustrated but more worried about him. I'd never been more unsure about anything in my life.

I was currently sitting in my room staring out the window blankly. It was raining something I had come to expect in Forks. They were beating down on my window pane in their own mournful song. As each rain drop slid down the glass they matched the tear that fell from my eyes.

Jasper had put those tears there but I must have been to blame, I was the only one there who could have made him so sad. It was irritating to know that I always seemed to hurt the people I claim to love.

I had this sudden urge to go running in the rain, I was dressed in nothing more than a thin pair of football shorts that I had got off Jasper and a thin tank top, Charlie was on duty. I contemplated it for a few more minutes before deciding.

I stood from the bed smiling to myself at what I was going to do, I ran to my window and threw it open, a breeze came in and a shiver ripped through me. I breathed deeply smelling the rain and how lush the grass was when it was wet. I closed my eyes and imagined the feel of the soft mud as it moulded beneath my feet, feel the rain as it cascaded through my hair.

I shouted out loud in my delight and ran down the stairs taking them two at a time. I stumbled a little when I hit the bottom but I didn't let it stop me. I ran to the door and flung it open. I walked onto the porch and stood there for a bit, savouring the moment. I laughed at the irony of the situation, I had only ever seen a scene like this in the movies and usually the girl had a man with her and they were happy and in love.

I shook those thoughts from my head and held onto the feeling of glee and happiness that I had before. I stared at the woods ahead of me but couldn't decide where I actually wanted to go. I took a step and made a move to step out from under the shelter of the porch but I hesitated and stay where I was. I tried again but couldn't make myself go.

I changed my mind and went back into the house. I slouched against the door and tried to centre myself. I walked through to the kitchen and stared out at the garden. There was a wood's to the side of the house and I decided that was where I wanted to go.

I opened the garden door and ran straight out into the rain; I grabbed the elastic from my pony tail and pulled it out shaking my hair. The first thing I felt was the feeling of the rain pelting my skin like a million bullets but instead of causing me pain, it relaxed me and even tickled me a little.

The wetness of my skin felt amplified by the cold. Goosebumps had broken out all along my body; little hairs were standing straight up as though they'd been amplified. As I ran across the garden I could smell the plants, they were everywhere. They had a unique smell that I couldn't completely identify yet it smelt familiar to me. The grass was soft underneath my feet; the closer I got to the woods' the lighter I began to feel. I broke through and was in the middle of a path, the rain had made everything look dark but I could still feel the rain against my skin.

I stood there watching the rain fall for a moment before taking off into it again. I spun around in a circle and smiled up at the sky. Lyrics to a new song raced through my mind.

_Diamonds fall to the ground_

_Falling all around me_

_Though it's wet my heart is sound_

_The smile on my face can't you see_

_The light in my eyes_

_Shining bright_

_Like little allies_

_Glowing in the night_

I laughed at how corny the rhyme scheme was but continued to hum it anyway. I spun around in a final circle and fell to the ground. I lay there laughing until I thought I could hear Jaspers voice calling out to me. I was certain I was having a mental breakdown even more sure of it when Jasper came into view. He was wearing a jean jacket a plain top and some jeans. I smiled at him and beckoned for him to join me.

"Fuck, Bella. What're you doing out here? Can't you see it's chucking it down out here? Oh my, God you're soaked through" he shouted at me.

"Jasper did it hurt?" I asked concerned.

"Did what" he asked clearly confused.

"Did it hurt when they shoved that stick up your ass?" I questioned sweetly. He scowled in anger and glared at me.

"Seriously Jasper, relax. You'll give yourself grey hairs" I went on. The rain was still falling and I closed my eyes savouring the feeling. Well I was until I felt myself being lifted up.

"Hey what are you doing?" I asked squirming around in his arms.

"Getting you in before you catch pneumonia" he answered walking in the direction of the door.

"No Jasper, just leave me here." I shouted at him. This caused him to pause and look down at me.

"Wha-Why Bella?" he asked.

"I know why you came, to tell me you don't want to be my friend anymore." I said looking right at him.

"Jus-just go away leave me here _alone_" I said emphasising the alone.

"No Bella I couldn't leave you, never. You're my best friend" he said.

"But all week you've been avoiding me and not taking my calls. I've been so miserable without you" I blushed as I added on the last part but my skin was probably so pale you couldn't see it.

"No I've been trying to, I dunno, get my thoughts under control" he replied

"Why didn't you just tell me?" I stressed.

"I don't know Bella. I just…don't know" he hung his head down.

"That's alright. Hey Jazz, Jazz" I said lifting his head. "You're my best friend too."

"Good! Now let's get you in. Your lips have turned blue and you're so pale I can see you're veins."

"Mm-hmm" I said snuggling into him.

"And you know I love you. Don't forget that Bells." He said beginning to walk again.

That was the first time he'd ever told me he loved me, at least I thought it was.

**Another Chapter done and Jaspers expressing more feelings for Bella. What's going on with Alice and him they seem to have a bit of a connection? It's odd; I only started working on this chapter today because I promised to get it out by at least Friday. The next Chapter will probably be out next Thursday or Friday but I'll try my hardest to get it out earlier.**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	13. Chapter 13

**I've been thinking about doing a JPOV but am unsure. Tell me what you think in your review, also the mystery of the little girl in the picture is revealed. This Chapter is also going to be short but I promise to make the next Chapter long and it will be filled with lot's of drama.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 13**

Ever since that day in the rain it seems as if everything's changed. I couldn't put my finger on it but it was as if there was a new piece to the giant jig saw puzzle that is my life, but it just wouldn't fit. Alice and I have bonded quite well but it seemed as though Jasper didn't like her because whenever the two of them were in the same room, they'd act all shifty and the atmosphere would be really tense. In my opinion at the time, I believed that it was because they hadn't had time to get to know each other too well but that they'd get closer.

If only I'd known the truth, I could have saved myself from a truck load of shit!

I was round Jasper's house as per usual but he was out, where I did not know, how long he would be gone I also did not know, but that didn't stop me from being there. I was in the living room again staring at the picture of Charlotte, Peter, Jasper and the little blonde girl. This wasn't the first time I'd found myself here, just looking at it. Charlotte had noticed as had Peter but I doubt Jasper had, he didn't really notice anything these days.

I had come here today because I wanted to find out who she was. I turned around to go and look at Charlotte only to see that she was standing in the doorway waiting for me. It was strange as I hadn't heard her come in but I was glad that she'd saved me the journey.

"Hey Charlotte" I began

"Hello Bella, why don't you take a seat?" she asked but it sounded more of a demand.

I sat down and I waited as she took a seat beside me before beginning.

"Charlotte" I hedged carefully. "Who is that little girl in the picture? I've haven't seen any other picture of her around the house and Jasper's _never_ mentioned her"

"I guess it's still a bit of a sore spot for him even after all this time." She said shaking her head sadly.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The little girl is Lily, short for Lillian. She's Jasper's cousin and my niece." She went on.

I was confused at how that was a bad thing. Charlotte stayed still for several moments taking deep breaths to calm herself, I could practically hear her heart pounding in her chest and knew that this was a topic that caused a great deal of pain.

"It's okay if-"but she cut me off by raising her hand and shaking her head furiously.

"No, no I-I'm fine, really" she smiled but it was definitely unconvincing.

"Do you remember how we moved here from Texas?" she asked, I nodded my head in confirmation. "Well the main reason for the move was because of her, the pain of being there, the memories were too much." I couldn't understand how one person could cause a family so much pain, for so many years.

"In Texas Jasper and Lily were inseparable, they were practically twins, everyday they were together it was adorable, but it couldn't last. You see Lily's dad was a banker one of those really high ones as well and he was always busy. It's not that he didn't give her attention, he gave her anything she wanted but not his love." She paused again and stared at the wall, hard.

"Lily practically lived at our house, such a happy girl but her life went down hill so fast. She didn't deserve any of it, she didn't" Charlotte's shoulders began shaking and tears streamed down her face, she took a long haggard breath before continuing to sob.

I put my arms around her and held her till her sobs began to cease, I stroked her hair and soothed her with calming words. Peter was out of the house and Jasper hadn't returned. I was worried as I'd never seen Charlotte like this before; she was always composed and happy. It was such a shock to witness her breaking down in front of me.

"I'm alright, I'm okay" she sat up and began wiping at her tears. I left the room and returned with a box of Kleenex I had found in the kitchen. I handed one to her and she accepted gratefully, blowing her nose on one before reaching for another to continue drying her tears. She gave me a smile but I could tell it was forced and she felt less than fine inside.

"As I said, she was a happy girl, never spoke a bad word against anyone until-"she hesitated. "There was this boy, his name was Royce and Lily's dad was very keen on him, he seemed like such a good boy always helping people, he was especially helpful when Lily broke her leg. He was willing to look after her, carry her around. He seemed like a life saviour."

I didn't miss the past tense in her words, _seemed_ I wondered what he could have done to hurt Lily so bad that she had entire families in pain.

"She was 8 when it happened, just a month away from her 9th birthday and Royce was, he was 14." She began shaking.

It didn't take a genius to realise what was going on and though I knew it was causing Charlotte pain I wouldn't be able to fully rest until I knew the truth.

"I don't know the full story, she was, she was very reluctant to talk to anyone afterwards. The only other person who knows the full events is Jasper. He found her, rescued her but it was too late it had already happened" she sobbed out.

"Royce he, he raped her. He took advantage and raped her. It changed her completely she became angry, spiteful and Jasper withdrawn, he blames himself for not getting there earlier. He shouldn't but he does. They moved away just after her birthday claiming a fresh start was what they all needed. They broke contact with us and e have no idea where they are." She said sadly.

"What happened to Royce?" I asked.

She was silent for a moment before speaking slowly and quietly. "Last I heard he disappeared, him and his family left the country after what happened but I know for sure he'll get what's coming to him one of these days.

We sat there for a while in silent, the sun had already gone down but we sat until I heard the sound of a door unlocking and footsteps coming to the room. I looked up and saw Jasper, he looked so tired and fragile, more vulnerable than I'd ever seen. I walked over to him and gave him a hug letting him know everything would be all right, even if he couldn't completely understand he would one day.

**Another Chapter done and trust****me the next Chapter will be jam packed with a lot of drama. Tell me what you thought of this one and where was Jasper?**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	14. Chapter 14

**I promised you a long Chapter and that's what you're going to get. Remember try not to judge Alice too harshly as she's only gotten here and doesn't know the full story between Jasper and Bella. Lot's of things are going to get revealed in this Chapter and Jasper/Bella interaction will drop because of it for awhile.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 14**

A week.

A week was 7 days.

7 days was how long it has been since I'd last seen Jasper.

7 days as I anxiously waited for him to call me to tell me he was okay.

7 days had gone by as I anxiously called him but always met the voice mail.

7 days as I wondered why he wasn't taking my calls or responding to my texts.

7 days…..

I was sitting in my room bored as usual, I hadn't seen Jasper since that night I found out about Lily, but in a way I guess it was my fault as subconsciously I was trying to avoid him, even though I tried to call him and it hit voice mail a part of me, a very, very small was relieved that it hit it. I knew that there were some things Jasper left out when telling me about growing up in Texas but I never knew that he left out a whole person! I mean, he had never mentioned Lily once and I was beginning to think he had grown up with no family his age. I couldn't help but wonder, if he was hiding something like this from me, what else?

I walked over to my desk to grab my sketch book and went to sit back down on my bed. I opened it to a blank page and poised my pencil at the ready but no inspiration came. I remembered the assignment that had been given to us in Art, we were to choose a model and paint them, and usually Jasper and I just did each other so this time I assumed the same thing, however this time when we painted we had to portray something. Our teacher Ms Flow; had spoken to me before about how I always drew Jasper and how she'd noticed he did the same, she kept encouraging me to draw other people or students but no one drew me to them like Jasper did.

I opened my book and began doing different sketches of him to simply outline his body and face from different angles. I couldn't decide on a pose and spent around an hour drawing him in different ones. After getting a few basic outlines done I began deepening a few of the lines to add features to him, I concentrated so hard that soon my eyes began to blur, my hand was slightly sore and my tongue dry from where it had poked on from the side of my lips.

I looked at the picture and frowned; it looked so…so plain, I guess was the best word to describe it. The picture looked dead and empty, no life in it until I realised I had drawn Jasper from the night I found out about Lily, I hadn't drawn him in the exact position or even in the same place, but it was his eyes, even in them you could see the pain and the haunting of the memory.

I pulled the picture out of the scrap book and considered screwing it up and throwing it away but I couldn't. Even though Jasper was _dead _- by all meanings of the word- in the drawing he was still Jasper, it was still Jasper and because of that reason I couldn't bear to part with it.

I picked up my phone to once again try to call Jasper, it rang and rand and rang but soon I could hear the automatic sound of his voice mail speaking. I sighed and threw my phone on the bed beside me before throwing myself backwards onto my pillow, I turned onto my side and stared at the pictures I kept on my bedside table.

There was a picture of Renee, Phil and Nessie, replacing the one I previously had of the three of us, there was one of Charlie and me when I was younger on one of my visits but the one I picked up and held close to me was the one taken of Jasper and I.

We weren't posing in it or even looking in the camera but it looked….perfect was the only way to describe it. We were sitting on my porch the summer we met, the sun was setting and cast a glow over us, one of Jasper's hands was clasping mine whilst the other was holding my chin. We were smiling at each other but I couldn't remember why.

Everything seemed so perfect at the time, I thought everything would be perfect, we'd be best friends forever, go to the same college, share an apartment and get married one day. As I got older I knew the idea was absurd but deep within me I couldn't help but imagine what it'd be like. I'd see him everyday, we'd live together, have kids. I'd love him and he'd….he'd love me.

I knew he loved me already he had admitted it but I knew it was nothing more than platonic love that you have for your best friend. I sat up suddenly remembering the day we spent raising money for the hospital. He'd said something to me and I raked my brain trying to remember.

I jumped out of the bed and ran to my computer; I switched it on and waited for the computer to load. I'd always hated how slow the computer was but at a time like this it down right pissed me off. After what felt like a century it was logged on and I quickly went onto Google and typed in 'Tavey melio' as that was what I remembered. It came up with a bunch of random nonsense so I tried again, typing in 'Tave Mylio' but it also came up wrong but this time unlike the other it had a _Did you mean_ I clicked on the suggestion and finally got some results.

It came up with a list of different web pages as usual and I clicked on the first link and scrolled down to where it said 'Tave Myliu' I didn't understand what it meant as it didn't have a translation so I went back to the main page. I went through a few more links until I saw a translator. I clicked on it and what the translation actually was blew me away.

I love you.

3 words, 8 letters, all insignificant on their own but together they had the ability to make or break a persons life and Jasper, Jasper had said those very words to me nearly a year ago but also a few days ago. I didn't understand him, what was he playing at what if at the time I knew what they meant, what was he expecting me to do, or was he hoping I would never find out about them. Some best friend he is!

I marched to my wardrobe to change out of what I was wearing before remembering I had no idea where he was or when he would return. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I could go and he'd be there or I'd go and end up wasting my day waiting for him. It was a tough decision and one I wasn't ready to make. So I sat back down on my bed and grabbed my phone. I opened the contact list and scrolled down to where t said Alice. I hesitated for a few seconds before pressing the call button. We got along well enough and hanging out with her today would be good, we'd get to know each other before school started. I put the phone to my ear and it was answered almost immediately.

"Hello" chirped a voice on the other end of the line.

"Hey Alice, its Bella" I added onto the end in case she'd forgotten though she didn't strike me as the kind of person who would.

"Of course it is. How's it going?" she asked. I could hear her moving around but as well as that I thought I could hear a voice in the background, particularly a male one but I decided it must have just been her dad.

"I'm alright just hanging around, catching up on stuff. What about you?" I answered.

I could practically hear her hesitation and but I didn't think it was that much of a personal question.

"Nothing, nothing much. Look Bella, can I call you back later, my mum's calling me" she stated.

"Yeah, sur-"but she cut the phone before I could even finish speaking. _How rude! _I thought.

I threw my phone back onto the bed and went onto my computer to look at the pictures that Renee had sent me.

It was a family picnic but since I was in Forks I chose not to come, I scrolled through the pictures quickly, laughing as I went along. I stopped at a few pictures of Alec and Jane. Jane was there with her new beau of the moment but she'd been through so many guys I couldn't remember which one he was. She had cut her though, before they fell to her waist now they were just below her shoulders and it looked as though she had blonde highlights in her hair as well, either that or the sun had bleached it for her. Her skin was tanned as well but what you expect when she lived in Phoenix.

Alec, he looked….. Different, I guess was the right word to explain it but at the same time, completely the same. He was taller, since the last time I'd seen him, his hair had also gotten darker changing from a sandy blonde to more of a brown colour. He was shirtless, tanned and appeared to be in a water fight with someone because in one picture his shirt was drenched through and in another he had taken off his shirt and thrown it to the side.

When I saw him shirtless, my heart stopped and my breathing became harder. I licked my suddenly dry lips and concentrated on lowering my heart rate. I saw a trail of brown hair leading into his jeans and stopped my train of thoughts before they got any dirtier. I felt an ache start in between my legs so I began rubbing my legs together to try and dissipate some of it but the friction only seemed to make it worse and the ache increased. When had Alec gotten so…hot? But more importantly when did I get so attracted to him, well his body at least. I mean it was unlikely that his personality would have changed so drastically but I mean look at Jasper and how he'd flipped.

I finished scrolling through the pictures and shut down my computer, it was dark outside so I went down stairs to begin making dinner for Charlie. I realised then that I hadn't eaten anything all day and I hadn't even seen Charlie.

I began bringing out the ingredients for Spaghetti Bolognese seeing as it was a pretty easy meal to make. I brought out a pot and began boiling the water when the phone began ringing. I quickly put down the noodles and hurried to answer it before it stopped.

"Hello" I panted out.

"Bella, it's your dad, I just wanted you to know that I'm bringing home pizza so no need to cook" Charlie said.

"Sure" I said. We spoke for a few more minutes before saying our goodbyes. I went back to the kitchen to turn off the gas and throw away the water. I laid out plates and sat down to wait, I watched the clock tick by steadily. 10 minutes had passed when I heard the door unlock and Charlie walk in, his heavy boots pounded on the ground as he walked in the direction of the kitchen.

"Hey dad" I said. It had gotten easier to call him dad rather than Charlie.

"Hey kiddo. Help yourself, I'm going to get changed quickly" he said laying two boxes of pizza on the table. I didn't understand why he had gotten two boxes as together we usually finished about one.

"Sure" I replied smiling at him. I opened the box on top and pulled out a slice of pizza, plopping it on my plate before getting another. I stood up and got a bottle of water out of the fridge as well as a few glasses and I poured myself, then I popped an olive in my mouth and chewed on it distractedly. I had taken two bites out of my pizza by the time Charlie came down 7 minutes later.

He sat down on the table and helped himself to a few slices; we sat there eating in silence. My eyes were fixed on the clock counting down the seconds till I could escape to the solitude and privacy of my room.

Charlie however was in the mood for some bonding and he showed it clearly by grunting and wiping his mouth with a napkin. He then proceeded to put his elbows on the table and fold his hands together on top. He screwed his forehead up and I realised that he had his serious face on and to be honest it freaked me out. I stopped eating the only slice of pizza I had eaten and put it on my plate with my other uneaten pizza; I sat up straighter and stared at the wall to the side of Charlie's head as he gathered his thoughts.

"So Bella how was your day?" he started off.

"Fine" I replied.

"What did you do today?" he asked.

"Not much, looked at some pictures, started some homework…" I trailed off. It wasn't a complete lie, I had started it, it just wasn't good.

"You didn't go anywhere, see anyone" he edged.

"No" I said.

"Oh" he replied, I could see conflict in his eyes as he debated whether or not to tell me something, I could tell he didn't want to but it must have been something very important.

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason" he answered quickly. I raised my eyebrow at him disbelievingly. He chuckled a little and relaxed his hands back onto the table.

"You always were observant Bells" he smiled sadly at me. I couldn't understand why that was a bad thing.

"Thanks dad" I replied embarrassed.

"Guess who I bumped into earlier" Charlie said.

"Who?" I questioned distractedly as I began putting pieces of pepperoni in my mouth.

"Jasper" he answered. I began choking a little and quickly downed my cup of water.

"Where?" I asked gasping a little.

"You know near the Kindergarten there's that park. He was sitting on the bench outside and I saw him whilst I was out on patrol." Charlie went on.

"Oh, did you talk to him? What did he say? Did he mention me?" I fired out one after the other.

"Slow down Bells. I spoke to him, he didn't really say much" he said.

"Did he mention me?" I asked quietly, looking down.

Charlie sighed before saying "I'm sorry Bells" I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, but I forced myself not to let them spill. He had consumed my thoughts a lot the past few days and when he didn't haunt me in my waking hours, he did in my dreams.

"I guess you just didn't come up, or maybe he didn't want to be too forward" I snorted, _yeah right, _but as lame as Charlie's excuses were I'm glad he said them, it showed he cared.

I could tell that Charlie wanted to try and deflect the light from this topic but the next words out of his mouth made my blood run cold and my heart constrict painfully.

"When did Jasper get a girlfriend?" he asked, genuinely interested.

"What?" I choked out.

"It's just that today when I saw Jasper, he was with a girl and they looked pretty close, I mean his arm looked like it was round her waist and they were just smiling at each other" he went on, frowning to himself.

"Oh, I don't know. I didn't realise he had one till now" I replied barely able to comprehend what he was telling me.

"Bella, Bella" a finger was snapped in front of my face. I looked up and saw Charlie looking at me concerned.

"Did you say something dad?" I asked.

"Yeah, I asked if you were alright but clearly you're not and you've barely eaten anything at all." He chided me softly.

"Yeah, I…err… I ate something big before you called, so I'm not too hungry" I replied, hoping he wouldn't catch onto my lie.

"If you're sure" he replied unconvinced.

"Let me clean up" I said starting to pack away the food before a hand came down to restrain my wrist.

"You go on up Bells, you look exhausted. I'll clean up" he said.

"No don't worry I'm fine" but as I said it, I could sense he was right. My body ached and my head hurt.

"I insist" Charlie persisted and he won out. I dragged my body upstairs and collapsed in bed not even bothering to brush my teeth. I curled my body into a ball and wrapped my bed throw around me. I had never felt as betrayed as I did then. Jasper was lying to me and dating behind my back. I just wished I knew who she was but more importantly, why it hurt me so badly.

That was the first of many nights that I cried myself to sleep.

xXx

The first thing I registered was the sound of drum beats, beating in a quick succession; it was a pretty sound and really relaxing. I could also hear the sound of pattering like a hundred babies were running bare feet their little feet making the sounds. The truth was it was the sound of the rain hammering on the roof of the house and it was heavy. I looked out the window and noticed it was still dark; I lay there facing the darkness until I eventually drifted off into a fitful sleep.

Later that morning when I awoke, I was sore and stiff. My mouth tasted bitter and disgusting and I regretted not brushing my teeth the night before. I sat up on the bed and stretched hearing my muscles protest and my bones click; I sagged back down and lay against the head board. Thoughts were clamouring around in my head but the main that bothered me was that Jasper was lying to me and sneaking around behind my back to do it.

I threw the covers off of me and went to the bathroom to shower; as I went I shouted out for Charlie but heard no reply so I assumed that he had already left for work. As I brushed my teeth, I looked at myself in the mirror my plain hair looked limper than usual and dark circles were beginning to form underneath my eyes. My skin had also turned a greyish tone probably due to stress; I just hoped I didn't start getting grey hairs and worry lines as well.

I switched on the shower and as I waited for it to heat up I went back to my bedroom to strip and grab my towel as well as shaving things. I had been so caught up in Jasper that I had been neglecting doing it. As I washed my hair, I noticed how I always used strawberry even as a child, it was odd but I decided that it was time to try something new.

Shaving my legs was a success as I only cut myself once but the blood was quickly washed away by the gushing water of the shower before I could smell it and get sick, I finished soon and got out wrapping my towel around me. I walked back into my bedroom and opened my wardrobe searching for something to wear, I pulled out a pair of my jeans and put them on noticing that they felt a little looser around the waist, I grabbed my belt and slipped it on as well just in case.

I grabbed a grey short sleeved top and put on a flannel shirt on top leaving it unbuttoned, I turn to look out the window and noticed it was still raining. I had hoped that if I waited it out long enough then it would stop but it looked as though that hope was about to be crushed as well.

I briefly considered calling Jasper to pick me up but I crushed that train of thought as well seeing as how he'd been ignoring me. That left me with one option I was going to have to brave the rain and walk to his house.

I didn't think my converses were up to going for a dip, so I slipped on my Wellington boots which were-thankfully-black, so they went with everything. I grabbed my coat and slipped on my water proof jacket for added measure. I grabbed my umbrella and was preparing to leave when I realised, I hadn't eaten anything. I didn't feel too hungry so I grabbed an Alpen bar from the cupboard and slipped into my inside pocket just in case.

Outside the wind was slapping everywhere and my jeans were soaked quickly, I was glad that I had some clothes round Jasper's and was hoping to change when I got there. I could just imagine having a cup of Charlotte's hot chocolate with marshmallows, whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles. Jasper would tell me he had no girlfriend and that the girl and him had just bumped into each other and were just talking, then he'd tell me that he hadn't been avoiding me but was planning something very special for him and me to do, then he'd tell me he loved me and I'd say it back and –what the hell am I thinking? Jasper just talking to the girl was believable, the hot chocolate was also believable but suddenly proclaiming our undying love for each other, like that'd happen. Jasper was way out of my league, I was just lucky to be friends with him, plus I didn't love him, did I. At least no more than any best friend loves their best friend and I did love Jasper just not in a romantic way.

Walking to his house was a struggle and I was shivering, the rain had gotten progressively heavier and I didn't want to risk running, getting hurt and making the journey even harder than it was. I was driving with my head down when a car drove past at the corner where I was walking and splashed me as it rounded, drenching me from head to toe. It was so bad that some water had even managed to get in my mouth. I turned around to see if I could recognise the car but simply saw the back of it driving into the distance. It was a silver colour but tinted with grey but it looked extremely familiar, I just couldn't place it.

I kept on walking to his house keeping further away from the road so as to avoid getting splashed again as if it would matter at this point. All I wanted was to dry myself and wear clothes that haven't been drenched. As I walked the one thing that came to mind was the art project, usually Jasper and I would go to different places to sketch each other, all we would draw each other from memory but I couldn't see how Jasper was going to be able to do it this time seeing as how he'd been so distant from me. The place that I wanted to draw him in was his bedroom; it was the moment when the sun hit him just so that he looked angelic. I was hoping to use paint to do a large portrait and then four smaller ones in charcoal, pastels, water colours and crayons.

I bit my lip as I remembered the last time he'd kissed me and how right it'd felt, but I remembered how un-right everything would be if he had a girlfriend. I technically had no right to kiss him now but that didn't mean we didn't do it every now and then. Even though it probably didn't mean anything to Jasper, I chose to look upon it as training but mentally I was also going to compare all my kisses to Jasper. He was so good at it I just knew every other guy would fail as no one could match up to Jasper, ever.

In the distance I could see Jasper's house but the amount of rain was blurring everything, so it looked further away, I was on the opposite side to it and made sure to look both ways before crossing because if I suddenly got hit by a car the journey would definitely been worthless. I ran across the road clutching my umbrella tightly. When I got to the door, I rang the doorbell furiously but I closed my umbrella as I did so. I was literally dripping a few more drops wouldn't cause any harm.

Charlotte opened the door with a pissed expression on her face until she saw it was me before ushering me in. I stood dripping onto the welcome mat as she rushed to the kitchen to get newspapers to lie on the ground. She made a path for me into the kitchen where she had also put some towels fresh from the dryer.

I proceeded to strip off all my wet clothes dropping them onto a soggy pile on the ground, I don't think I could have been any more embarrassed I was stripped to my underwear but I was thankful that I had opted to wear black ones. I stood there shivering and Charlotte was just looking at me, her eyebrow raised high. She cleared her throat as though I were missing something extremely obvious.

"What?" I asked. My arms were wrapped around my torso and I was sort of half bent to try and keep myself warm.

"Bella, we're both women here, it's nothing to be embarrassed about" she said comfortingly. Sadly for her I still didn't get what she was trying to say and from the look on her face she could see how confused I was.

"You're underwear Bella, they're drenched through, and you need to remove them so they can dry or you won't get dry quickly enough. I blushed profusely but couldn't bring myself to do it.

Charlotte sighed and grabbed one of the larger towels; she then spread it in front of me and closed her eyes.

"Now will you take it off?" she asked, I nodded but when I remembered she couldn't see me I said yes.

I stripped off my underwear and added it to the pile of wet clothing on the ground, I told Charlotte I was done and she wrapped the towel around me and sat me down on one of the chairs in the kitchen. She switched the kettle on for hot chocolate and began bringing down mugs. After that she grabbed another towel and dried my hair for me like I was a little girl. She opened a cupboard and brought out some biscuits which she poured on a plate and placed in front of me.

"Hold on" she said before dashing out of the kitchen. I grabbed one of the biscuits and took a bite out of it and chewing it slowly savouring the taste. I looked around the kitchen remembering all the good times that I'd had in there and smiled to myself. Charlotte returned not long after that and began brushing my hair for me and plaiting it into pigtails. She told me to go upstairs and get dressed whilst she made me some hot chocolate and put my clothes in the dryer.

In my room she had laid an outfit out for me already some football shorts and a baggy t-shirt, she'd thankfully not laid out my underwear for me which I then took from the dresser. I was considering putting on socks but decided against it as I was going to be here till the rain stopped or someone picked took me home.

I walked along the hall to Jasper's room only to find it missing his presence but it wasn't completely empty. In the middle of the room was an easel and what looked like a painting but it was covered with a white sheet. I gasped thinking that Jasper had already drawn my picture and that he had gone to my house to pick me up and show it to me. That was why the car had looked so familiar. I decided to take a peek at the drawing as revenge for Jasper splashing me with that puddle of water.

Slowly and dramatically, I lifted up the cover, but the image painted onto the canvas wasn't of my own but of someone completely different.

_Alice_

I could see the intent of the picture straight away, _Innocence_. That was how he had portrayed her as, her porcelain skin was flawless and painted to perfection, but you could still see a few scattered freckles that you wouldn't usually notice. Her eyes were lit up and they looked as though they were sparkling although her face was turned away. She held a flower in her hand but I couldn't tell which one. She was sitting on a bed of luscious green grass that was dotted with flowers of every colour. She lay in the middle of them in a white dress, although the picture was a close up you could see that she was sitting up but with her legs pushed to the side, so you could just see her dainty feet poking out like a pixie's or a flower fairy. It was clear she was bare foot as well. There was a flower in her head as well matching the one in her hand. The picture looked like it had been painted just as the sun began to set as a golden hue was cast over everything.

It looked so perfect it brought tears to my eyes. I heard the sounds of keys and Jasper's voice telling his mum he was home, I heard her reply before I heard him addressing some one else. I hurriedly covered the painting again and left the room, managing to get there before he got to the top of the stairs and before he could see me.

I peeked out of the crack in the doorway and saw Jasper walk by his hand in a girls, I strained my neck to try and get a better look but I couldn't see, what I managed to make out though was black, spiky hair. I collapsed against the door and brought my knees up to my chin. Jasper was avoiding me because he had Alice. He didn't want me anymore because Alice was here, because Alice was in the picture, because she was better than me. His room was directly next to mine, so because I am masochistic, I stepped out of the room, making sure the coast was clear and walked to stand in front of Jasper's door. I pressed my ear to it and could hear the conversation as though we were in the same room.

"Why do I have to be blind folded?" Alice whined.

"Because it's a surprise" Jasper replied. I could hear the smile in his voice, could picture it in my mind.

"Can you at least take the blind fold off?" she asked.

"As long as you promise to keep your eyes closed." He said back.

"I promise" she said and you could hear the excitement radiating in her voice. This was all wrong that was supposed to be me in there.

"Okay. Ready, one, two, three. Open your eyes" he shouted out. I could hear the sound of material rustling and I imagined he was unveiling it to her. I heard a gasp and a small sob before I heard Jasper's concerned voice.

"Don't you like it?" he asked uncertainty in his voice. "I knew it wasn't good, I'm sorry, I'll get rid of it, I'll-"but she cut him off.

"You will do no such thing Jasper Whitlock. It's…it's...no words can describe it, it's beautiful. I can't believe that's me, I mean I look so different and my eyes they're glowing-"she babbled until she was suddenly silenced by something.

The silence went on for a while and I tried to peek through the crack but could only see the back of Jasper's head.

"No Alice, you're wrong. You're beautiful so pure. That was what I was trying to portray 'Innocence' and you are the very definition of it." He said. I looked through the crack and saw that they had turned and he was stroking her cheek lovingly, he'd never done that to me, not nearly as lovingly.

"Really, you think I'm beautiful?" she questioned disbelievingly.

"I don't think it, I know it" he replied before leaning down and kissing her gently on the lip. I bit back a sob as tears fell down my cheeks. I watched as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he led her to the bed where they fell on it. I couldn't see anymore, but I was glad as it meant I didn't have to watch. I ran down the stairs and tripped tumbling down. Tears fell some more and I stared at my bruised legs.

Charlotte ran out to see me panicked that something had happened but I couldn't stay, I could literally feel my heart breaking in my chest and it was painful. It felt like my heart was being crushed, stepped on and literally burnt. I would rather have had it happening to me in real life. I held my heart as I choked out a battered breath. I couldn't stay there, not knowing that whilst he was upstairs smiling and happy I was down here dying.

"Bella, Bella sweetie what's wrong?" Charlotte asked. I couldn't speak for the life of me and replied to her in some incoherent babble, shaking my head side to side.

"Bella, Bella you're scaring me now" she cried out loudly.

I didn't know what to do, all I knew was that I had to escape and that was what I did, I ran towards the door and flung it open to the torrential rain fall and ran outside into it. In the background, I could hear Charlotte's screams for me to come back, her pleas for me to return. My feet, still bare were getting ripped up and were sore but I didn't stop. I fell and grazed my knee several times the blood dripped down my leg but I still didn't stop though they could have been infected.

I didn't know where I was going; I just knew I needed to get away. I eventually realised I was near home, I ran to the house, realising that my keys were still inside my jeans pockets, which were still in Jasper's house. I was shaking violently and sneezing as well.

I fumbled around before eventually locating the spare key and letting myself in, I collapsed on the ground weak and afraid. I somehow found the strength to stand up again and locked the door before rushing upstairs and switching on the shower for the second time that morning. I could hear banging on the door and someone screaming for me but I ignored them, instead I ran into my room and flung open my bag packing enough clothes to fill a suitcase. I opened my drawer and found my ticket. The one I was using to go to Phoenix. When Phil had bought it, he had left it as open flight, I switched on the computer and as it loaded, I quickly hopped into the shower to warm myself up. By the time I had gotten out, the computer had loaded and I logged on checking for the next available flights. There was one in four hours so I booked myself into it.

I quickly towel dried my hair but as I did this I began calling for a taxi to take me to the airport. I noticed that the banging and screaming had stopped. I got dressed quickly and packed my carry on bag, it was full of mainly art supplies and my money with another Alpen bar.

I was feeling drowsy as the only thing I'd eaten all day was a biscuit, I rushed down to the kitchen to put in some pop tarts to toast, as they did I wrote a note to Charlie knowing that it'd hurt him I was leaving without even saying goodbye to him properly. In the note I simply told him that this was the date mum had booked and it had completely slipped my mind, I also told him not to worry about me and that I was sorry.

The house phone began ringing but I ignored it, I grabbed my toasted pop tarts and ate them quickly whilst double checking I had everything I needed. It was all right, because if I did need anything Renee would provide me with it. The one thing I definitely didn't bring was any of my shampoo or body wash. I'd been telling myself earlier that I needed a change and now I was going to get one.

I put the note in a punch pocket and went upstairs to bring my suitcase and carry on down, when the cab arrived, the man helped me to out my bag in the boot and waited as I cello taped the note to the door and we set off to the airport.

xXx

At the airport everywhere was busy and crowded. I had already checked my bag in but I still had to wait another 20 minutes before I actually boarded the plane. I had been meaning to call Renee and Phil to tell them I was coming, but I kept putting it off scared of switching my phone on again.

Eventually, I realised that it was now or never and switched it back on, I had 20 missed calls from Jasper, 22 from Charlotte, 18 from Charlie, even a few from Alice as well as various text messages and voice mails. I couldn't bear having to listen to them, so I sent Renee a quick text hoping that Charlie hadn't already called her up.

I sat down shaking my legs nervously when I heard a commotion; I turned my head only to see Jasper, Alice, Charlie, Charlotte and Peter running in looking for me. I bit my lip unsure of what to do, they split up to cover more ground but the bad part was that Alice and Jasper were manning near the Terminal gates, where I needed to get through in the next 5 minutes.

I ducked and hid behind people to get near to it. The closer I got to them, the more nervous I got, it was easier though as they had strolled about 15 feet away from it. When I realised I had no cover I realised a little too late that I had to run for it, at that exact moment Jasper turned around and his eyes met mine. I hesitated but that was all it took before he starting running in my direction, I quickly sprinted towards the gates, his cries of _'Bella' _long behind me.

On the plane, I had time to think; time to consider everything that had happened today, Jasper was moving on and doing what every other teenage boy does. He was gorgeous, had a gorgeous girlfriend and they were happy together. I wanted to be happy and I needed to have a life outside and away from Jasper before I was sucked up by him or worse before I fell in love with him.

I just hoped it wasn't too late.

**There we go my longest Chapter yet and as I promised lot's of drama. Poor Bella, Jasper really had been sneaking around with Alice and now he's kissed her and Bella had to watch. Anyway next Chapter will be about her holiday and about her moving on and getting a life.**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	15. Chapter 15

**Amazing, I had such a large response to the last Chapter, Thank you to everyone who reviewed it; it means the world to me. This Chapter was going to be her holiday but since you wanted a Chapter sooner I decided I'll give you her flight instead and her holiday next Chapter. I'm sorry it took so long to get out though and I will try to update faster.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 15**

It was an hour into the plane ride and during that hour I'd had time to think and consider everything that'd went on but the most puzzling question of all as that during my emotional breakdown when did I get dressed? I didn't remember doing it but I was pretty preoccupied earlier, I couldn't help but think back to the look on Jasper's face earlier. I mean I could see the relief clear as day but did he honestly think that I would stop just like that and run into his arms like a good little puppy.

I was sitting in a row by myself most people sitting in groups all around me. I had my head phones on music pumping into my ears. Tears ran silently down my face but I didn't wipe them, knowing that the only way I could get over it, is if I let it all out.

The seat was uncomfortable and I kept moving in it trying to get comfortable. I had turned off my phone so no one could contact me but we were supposed to anyway. I was shivering as well; constantly being soaked in the rain doesn't do wonders in stopping you having a cold. I couldn't wait to get to Phoenix, I could leave it all behind me and I wouldn't even have to see Jasper for the rest of the holidays. He could be with Alice for all I cared, I'd get over it, make some new friends. I liked Angela, she could replace him. I felt so stupid now for thinking me and Alice could be friends, but in a way I couldn't help but feel that I had brought this all on myself by asking Jasper to come with me to meet Alice.

They probably would never have met and I'd still get to keep with him. I laughed humourlessly at that, if they didn't get together now, they'd do it during school time and even worse he'd keep using school as an excuse to spend time with me. It would have probably been worse of they'd done It them, the pain so much more real. I probably wouldn't ever go back to school if I broke down in front of everyone.

The idea of moving back to Phoenix was becoming more and more appealing to me, Renee and Phil would never turn me down and I'd be closer to Nessie as well as the rest of Phil's family and if luck had it, I'd never see Jasper or Alice again and only see Charlie occasionally, that could work I thought to myself.

I know that it'd hurt Charlie but I need to look out for myself first and he'd get over it –eventually. He had the guys down at La Push, everything would work out, I was almost sure of it. I hadn't eaten properly in a while but the thought of food made me sick to the stomach. Grief was surrounding me and I couldn't find the will to break out.

The flight that I had booked myself onto wasn't a direct one and would stop over in California before taking one to Phoenix. I wished that I'd checked if the flight was direct but at the time all I needed was to get away.

I couldn't help but wonder why Jasper hadn't told me. Again! These days it seemed as though he was constantly hiding things from me and lying to me. If he had told me about Alice, sure I would have been sad, but I would have gotten over it and taken it like I'd taken Christine.

My throat was dry from all the crying and the high amount of water loss I'd just experienced, so I fished around in my purse for a couple of coins. When I got them out, I wiped away all the tears and tried to –unsuccessfully- hide the redness from my eyes. I asked one of the hostesses for a coke and paid, as I did, I saw the sympathetic look she shot me and tried to ignore it by focusing my attention on the coke. I greedily swallowed every last drop of the sweet drink, the gas in it making me feel slightly bloated.

I sighed and tied my still damp hair into a ponytail. It was turning naturally wavy and was getting in my face. I took my head phones out, the sad notes of My Immortal by Evanescence tinkling out of them.

I yawned feeling tired and laid my head against the window. I told myself that it'd just be a quick nap but soon succumbed to the blissful oblivion that sleep offered.

xXx

"Miss, miss, wake up. You need to wake up!" I awoke to one of the hostesses frantically shaking me, a fearful look on her face.

"Are you alright?" she asked concerned.

"I-"my voice sounded hoarse so I cleared it. "I'm fine" I said though judging by the look on her face she didn't believe me, but she went away.

I looked outside the window and it was dark, I dreaded the thought of having to spend the night in an airport but knew it needed to be done. I switched on the TV and checked what movies were playing, after watching a bit of Dear John and Spongebob the Movie, I heard the pilot's voice come on over the intercom.

"We are preparing to land, please remain in your seats and fasten you're seatbelts please" he said before signing off.

I hated planes, hated them with a passion going into the air was a nightmare and so was going down, I rooted around in my bag before luckily finding a packet of gum, I opened one and began chewing it, remembering how Renee had once told me it stops you're ears from popping.

We began the descent and I squeezed my eyes shut, I squeezing my hands into fists and try to focus on anything but the fact that I could possibly be hurtling to my death. I counted my breaths to keep calm and eventually I felt us on the runaway, slowing to a stop.

Most people began standing up and rushing to get out of the plane. I sat patiently in my seat waiting for everyone to go and it wasn't because my seat belt was jammed and I couldn't remove it.

My luggage –unlike me- was getting sent straight to Arizona and if there were no flights then I would indeed be spending the night in a crammed airport. Lucky me!

There was a bus like thing waiting to take us to the airport; inside I squeezed into a corner, noting that most of the other people inside were with someone. When we got to the airport I quickly sped out checking for available flights and sadly found none.

I sighed and stormed off to find a flight attendant. I waited in a queue with other people getting ready to fly.

"Hello, how can I help you today?" asked a petite women from behind the desk. She had hazel eyes and light brown hair with what looked like blonde highlights.

"Hi, I...um...I was wondering when the…err…next flight out to Arizona is?" I asked.

"Oh, okay. Let me just check it for you" she said before turning her attention to a computer screen in front of her. I waited patiently as she typed away before eventually finding what I was looking for.

"Well, it seems as though the flight has been delayed and hasn't yet taken off so I think that the next flight will be in about 4 or 5 hours" she said cheerfully. Before I could reply she was greeting the next person and I was tossed aside. I couldn't believe it! I was practically spending the night in an airport, lucky me.

I walked around and found somewhere to sit; I was bored and irritated at the sudden turn of events. People were milling around excitedly, couples holding hands, families together, I felt so alone. Most people just ignored me but occasionally I saw the sympathetic smiles being shot my way, I didn't want anyone's pity, I wanted Jasper but since I couldn't have him I'd settle for a second best. If only there were a second best.

I got up and began walking around, searching for something to do, I got to an escalator and went up. There different businesses lined up on the right side as well as the left. I walked on some more before getting to a cyber café. I briefly considered checking my mail but changed my mind afraid that my email was bombarded with messages from them.

I spun around and immediately collided with someone, the girl started swearing and I'm pretty sure she could make a sailor blush.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so, so sorry, really I didn't mean to, it was an accident, I didn't know you were there, I am real-"I stuttered out.

"Stop!" she shouted at me. I looked up and saw her fixing me with one of the nastiest looks I'd ever seen before and I'm sure if looks could kill, my ashes wouldn't even be left.

"People like you irritate me so much, just go" she stated.

"I'm really-"

"Go!" she shouted and I took off in the opposite direction to her. I headed to a WHSmith and got a packet of crisps and some chocolate. I hadn't been eating well and I really needed some sugar in my system.

I headed back to my seat and sat back down, opening my Twix bar, I took the first bite and moaned not even embarrassed by the sound. I quickly finished eating and put the wrapper inside my bag. I was about to witch on my phone to check the time, when I remembered I was trying to avoid people so I looked around and saw a digital clock. I was annoyed realising that only 45 minutes had gone by.

I groaned and slung my head backwards colliding with someone's head, I groaned and turned around, becoming face to face with the Ice Queen from earlier.

"You again?" she snarled icily. I was about to start apologising again when all my annoyance and stress hit me like a ton of bricks and I started taking it out on her.

"Gosh, I don't know what your problem is; I've got enough shit on my plate without having to put up with you as well." I shouted at her. She looked shocked and glared at me again; I turned around and put my head phones back in blocking out the world. I drifted off to sleep eventually but awoke when my head phones were yanked roughly out of my ear.

I looked up and saw the girl was back I glared at her and soon we were caught in a stare off until she sighed and sat down in the chair next to me. She stared off into space for a moment while I looked on perplexed at her sudden change in attitude.

"I just want you to know this isn't easy for me." She began. "I-I'm sorry, you're right my problems aren't your fault and I guess in a way you were just the unfortunate person to cross my path today and for that I'm sorry" I was gob smacked and stared at her my mouth opening and closing like a goldfish during feeding time at the aquarium.

"If you don't close your mouth soon I'm sure you'll start catching smiles" she said and I thought I saw the hint of a smile cross her face.

"Thanks, for apologising I mean and I'm sorry to. I shouldn't have blown up like that; it's just that I've had the worst day, week." I sighed and shook my head slowly. "Have you ever felt like your life was spinning completely out of control and there was nothing you can do about it but run?" I asked her.

"Yeah but running doesn't get you anywhere. The problem still there, you're just delaying it, this is coming from experience" she answered and I saw a mournful expression cross her face. "Care to share, it's just I'm stuck here for who knows how long and I'm guessing you are too?"

I nodded confirming. I didn't know where to start there was just too much but as in every story it was good to start at the beginning.

"Back home I have this friend, this best friend and he's a guy. He's amazing, he's smart, funny and charming and for the first couple of years it's been great but recently it's all gone pear shaped. He's lying to me and hiding stuff from me and now he's gone and gotten a girlfriend and he didn't even tell me. But before that he ignored me for days and when he came to see me he says he loves me –this was before he got the girlfriend- and then he ignores then I go round to see him but it was-"

"Whoa, slow down. So this guy, who claims to be your 'best friend', is basically sneaking round your back doing shit and lying to you. God, he sounds like a dick maybe you need to knock him down a few pegs. Is he the reason why you're running away?" she asked.

"Yes, it's just when I went round his house it was pouring and I don't drive so I walked, and then his car splashed me but at the time I didn't know it was him. So his house is like my second home and I get changed upstairs then I go to his room and he's got this easel set up with a drawing and a sheet covering it. Then I start thinking it's for me and, and I think he's gone to go and pick me up because f-for art class we have to do a portrait of someone to por-portray them and" I stopped talking and wiped away the tears that were beginning to fall.

"I think to myself I might as well take a look as compensation for splashing me but it's" I stop.

"It's the other girl" she finished for me.

"I hear him come back and quickly cover it and run out the room, then I peek back in and he's showing it to her and calling her beautiful and then they kiss. I ran away after that, all the way home. I'm on my way to see my mum in Phoenix" I finished.

"You love him" she stated simply.

"What?" I turned to look at her abruptly, eyes wide.

"You. Love. Him" she punctuated each word.

"'Course I do, he's my best friend, even though he's acting like a douche."

"Must I spell it out?" he asked herself. "You are in _love _with him"

"No" I denied vehemently because if I was then I was screwed for life.

"Yes you are"

"No I'm not!"

"Well if you don't want to accept the truth, then don't because deep down you know the truth."

"His names Jasper you know"

"Really?" she asked shocked. I turned to look at her and saw a stunned expression on her face.

"Yeah" I smiled softly remembering him.

"I have, had a cousin named Jasper" she whispered quietly.

"What do you mean by _had_?" I asked.

"I mean that, I don't know what happened to him or where he is. I haven't seen him in like 8 or 9 years, I wonder how he is" she said to herself.

"Oh, I'm sorry" I began.

"You shouldn't be. I'm Rosalie by the way, what's your name?"

"Bella" I answered simply.

"Bella, that's a nice name, is it short for Isabella or Isobel?" she asked.

"Isabella, you know I've never met anyone called Rosalie before." We sat in silence for a while.

"Where are you off to?" I asked tentatively.

"Tennessee" she answered.

"Cool" I replied.

"Rose, can we be friends?" I asked in case she didn't want to.

"I'd like that Bella." She said. We quickly exchanged our numbers and sat back down, I offered her some of my crisps and chocolate and she readily accepted it.

"You know, I have to cross through Phoenix to get to Tennessee, we could be on the same flight." She said.

"Yeah that'd be nice" I replied. "So what's your story then?" I asked.

"Well, I'm meant to be on holiday at the moment with my parents but my dad has decided that he'd rather work than fly out to California and my mum goes where he goes and he's staying home" she said sadly.

"Where do you live?" I asked.

"New York" she replied.

"Then how come you're going to Tennessee?" I asked getting confused.

"We were supposed to fly out some time this week so I brought the holiday forward and I'm going to Tennessee now for myself and because I couldn't bear to go home." She answered.

"Why Tennessee?" I asked again. It seemed like all I was doing at the moment was asking questions.

"When I was little I went on holiday there all the time with my cousin Jasper and his family. I have so many good memories of the place and I guess in a way, I just want to feel close to him again" she sighed and for the first time I noticed that her eyes weren't entirely blue, they actually looked kind of violet.

I looked at Rose again, she looked better than any model I'd ever seen, she was gorgeous. She had long blonde hair that fell to halfway down her black, her eyelashes were long and curled and she also had a nice tan. I hoped that this time when I went to Phoenix I'd tan not burn.

My thoughts drifted to Alec, I hadn't seen him in so long and Jane, he should be 18 now, 2 years older than me. It wasn't a big difference and Renee always said how I was born middle aged. I thought back to the picture of me and couldn't help the dreamy look that appeared in my eyes or the giant smile that spread across my face. I couldn't believe how I'd never noticed him before, I mean back then my feelings for Jasper were strictly platonic but now, it didn't even matter, it wasn't as thought I had a chance with either of them. I really should stop living in my head, but I couldn't help but imagine what it'd be like to kiss Alec, I mean the only person I could really compare it to was Jasper, but still. I started feeling an annoying poking and looked up to see Rose with a frustrated look in her eyes.

"So have you?" she asked for what I guessed wasn't the first time...

"Have I?" I asked.

"Kissed him" she finished exasperated.

"What, Alec?" I asked confused. I hadn't but it was weird how she was asking about him.

"No, Jasper but we'll get onto him in a minute" she said.

"Well, yes, no, sorta. I don't think you can really say it was a kiss more of an experiment?" I said though it sounded more like a question.

"So you have but since he's your 'best friend'" she made air quotes when she said this "You don't count it as a kiss because it makes it sound like friends with benefits." She summed up.

"Yeah" I said agreeing with her.

"So who's Alec?" she asked changing the subject.

"He's my step dad's, sister's son." I said.

"And you guys have-"she let it hang in the air.

"We haven't done anything. I haven't seen him in ages but today, well yesterday morning, I saw a picture of him and he was shirtless and-"

"And judging by the start struck look in your eyes and gooey smile you wanted to jump his hot ass" she stated.

"Rose!" I said alarmed. No one had ever said anything about sex as openly as that. I got the feeling she was one of those friends who told it as it was.

"What, its true so don't deny it." She said.

"Doesn't mean I want everyone to know, I've never even gotten that far with a guy before, I mean the only guy I've _ever _even kissed was Jasper and aside from Alec he was the only guy I'd ever even felt attracted to." I said.

"Bella, having feelings like this is completely normal. So I don't think there's any point in asking if you've ever had an orgasm" she said.

"Rose!" I repeated my face turning an alarming shade of red.

"Just checking" she said in a sing song voice.

I set my alarm to wake me up at 3.30 and began talking to Rose again. It was a bit like a sleepover except less comfortable. Eventually we drifted off to sleep, I don't know which one of us slept first but we did but her words kept playing over and over again in my head.

_You are in love with him_

I wanted to deny it and with every strength in my body I would fight against it because he already had so much power over me, I didn't want him to take control of my heart as well. That would be the ultimate defeat and the ultimate punishment. Imagine, being in love with him and having to watch him parade around with Alice, that would be too painful, but luckily that's not going to happen to me. Right?

**Again I apologise for the lateness of this Chapter but I'm already working on the next one, I want her holiday to be quite long and like I said before Bella/Jasper interaction will be low. Jasper also won't be in the story for awhile just in case anyone was wondering. R&R and I hope you enjoyed the Chapter.**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	16. Chapter 16

**Thank you to everyone who's reviewed this story or added it to favourites and I'm sorry I haven't answered any reviews lately so I want to say thank you to everyone together. There will be a twist in this story so try to look at all the little clues that get left like things Jasper's said FlowerChild67 has picked up on a few of them if you check the review page. Anyway this is going to be another long chapter covering some of Bella's Holiday. I'm sorry it took so long to get out though but in the end I decided that it'd be best to break her holiday down in to parts.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 16**

"Bella, Bella wake up. You're phone's been ringing for at least 5 minutes and it's beginning to get on my nerves" Rose growled into my ears.

"Good morning to you to Rose" I picked my phone out of my bag and stopped it. I sat up and stretched and began working the kink out of my shoulder. I definitely wouldn't advise any one to sleep in airport chairs that's a definite no-no.

I looked around me and saw that people were still milling around and it was still crowded even at that time _Don't people ever sleep in California_ I thought.

I stood up and grabbed my bag looking at myself in my phone's mirror and groaned at the sight, rings had started forming underneath my eyes and it looked as though I had been in a fight, Rosalie on the other hand looked fabulous as though she'd just walked out of a photo shoot rather than sleeping in an airport chair.

"_Attention! Attention! All passengers travelling to Phoenix, Arizona please go to gate two to begin boarding, I repeat: All passengers travelling to Phoenix, Arizona please go to gate two to begin boarding. Thank you" _we heard the voice over the intercom say. It sounded like a woman but you could never be to sure.

"Come on, it's that way" said Rosalie pointing in the direction were a lot of people were headed, we followed the crowd, Rosalie's arm guiding me through and eventually we reached the gate. We went through the security check quickly and were soon being led on board. We took seats near the back of the plane and soon lift off started. We didn't talk much at first, but that was probably due to the fact that we fell asleep practically the moment the plane had settled in the air.

xXx

I woke up and looked out the window seeing that we were so close to Phoenix, I couldn't wait to finally be home, to see everyone. I was so glad that I went through with it, I don't think I could have forgiven myself if I had let Jasper catch me. I could just imagine what would happen. He'd act all sad that I'd tried to runaway but he would mention his infidelity. He'd then give me a hug and as always I'd fall for it, after we got back to my house we'd talk and Alice would be there but they'd act as though they weren't a couple. Jasper would say that he's my best friend and how I shouldn't hide things from him when that was exactly what he was doing to me but I wouldn't say I knew, because it wasn't like me to say things like that.

Afterwards things would go back to how they were before, Jasper sneaking around behind my back, lying to my face and me sitting there bearing it all because I couldn't hurt Jasper even if he could hurt me. One day, maybe at the beginning of school, they'd suddenly tell me they were a couple and Jasper would talk to me in private later saying how he'd tried to resist his feelings but that I'd always be his number one girl but eventually I'd be forgotten. The only thing that I could probably look forward to then would be College or I could probably beg Renee to let me move back home even though I know that it'd hurt Charlie.

I sighed and turned to look at Rose, she looked so peaceful when she was asleep. Some of her hair had covered her face so I tucked it behind her ear. Like this, she didn't look as scary as she did when we met, she looked…vulnerable, scared and so young. I couldn't imagine that she was any older than me when she looked like this, probably only 17 or 18. I wouldn't be surprised if she were older. She also looked sort of like Lily, I had spent so many days staring at her picture that it was embedded in my mind and I couldn't help but wonder what if she was. Certain things matched like having a cousin named Jasper and not seeing him in years but I didn't know what the guy looked like. Also, the way she talked about him made him seem like he was a great person when she knew him, but my Jasper carries around guilt. Wouldn't she have blamed him to make him feel guilty?

Everything was confusing me and I decided not to dwell on it, if Rosalie really was Lily and we became good friends then maybe she would tell me what happened, but how unlikely is it that the cousin that she hadn't seen in years would be _my_ Jasper. It just didn't seem plausible but nowadays what did. The Pilot made his usual speech about landing and so I woke Rose up.

It wasn't an experience I'd like to do _ever_ again.

If she was aggressive when she was awake she was even more aggressive when she was half asleep, she looked around a bit disoriented until she saw me and I explained that we were landing soon. She nodded her head and yawned loudly before sitting back and waiting for the land to start and finish. Eventually we made it off of the plane but it was still dark outside which meant I was still going to have to wait in the airport because all I'd texted Renee was that I was coming down sooner little did she know how soon.

I checked the clock and saw that it was only 5am. Renee and Phil would still be asleep by now and I didn't want to disturb them by waking them up so early. I walked with Rose to collect our suitcases before going to check the list of departures board. We scanned a few times before Rose eventually spotted a plane leaving for Tennessee at 6.30am. That was 1 ½ hours away not much time but that didn't really matter. There were usually taxis waiting outside to take you wherever you wanted and I was sure I had enough money to get home so I decided to wait with Rose until she went.

We walked around for a bit nether of us really hungry, I was nervous because in a matter of hours I would be home and I'd get to see everyone again. Eventually. I sighed at the thought, Rose turned to look at me with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smile and all I could do was scowl at her but even that dissolved into a smile.

We found a place to sit that was near a window, the early morning sun was beginning to tickle through the glass and I stretched my arm out trying to feel the heat. Rose laughed at my antics but couldn't help joining in herself. We sat there basking in the light for a few minutes before I started talking again.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" it was a really boring question and I knew the answer would be yes, I mean a girl as stunning as her would surely have a boyfriend as equally stunning. I could just imagine the babies and couldn't help but feel envious at how lucky she was to have such good genes.

"No" I looked up shocked at her but she was staring seemingly disinterested through the window, I would have thought everything was fine, would have merely moved on but the light reflected her eyes and they shone with unshed tears.

I reached over and grabbed her hands clasping them tightly; I waited for her to turn her head before smiling at her.

"It's okay Rose, the right guy is out there for you he's just waiting to come forward. Listen, I hardly know you and you hardly know me but we're friends Rose and it's going to work out for you, any guy would be crazy not to want you" I added on jokingly.

"It wouldn't, I'm damaged goods" she whispered.

"I don't know what's happened but loving someone truly and wholly is being able to see their imperfections perfectly. You're not damaged goods Rose, you're like a…a lock just waiting for someone who has the right key to open you up. You're worth the Earth and the stars Rose so don't ever say any of this crap about yourself again" I said fiercely. I can feel tears in my eyes but I refused to let them fall. She sniffed and used her sleeves to wipe her tears which had fallen. We sat in silence for a while…just sitting.

"I like cars you know" she said randomly.

"What?" I asked thinking I'd heard her wrong.

"I like cars, you know, working on them, restoration. I'm a Grease Monkey" she went on.

I laughed at the irony of it, a person who looks like a goddess and should be worshipped like one prefers to spend her day under the hood of a car covered in motor oil. I raised my eyebrow at her.

"What?" she said and I laughed at her, she laughed too and soon the tension went away.

"Ok, ok random thought" I said trying to catch my breath "Ever watched The Duck Song on youtube?" I asked her.

"Yeah I have, that ducks made me laugh so hard" she laughed.

"Yeah, 'Got any grapes?' How random" I agreed.

"And then when he asks for lemonade and waddles away" she went on.

"Yeah" I sighed, this feeling of euphoria washing over me.

"Bella? When are you going home?" Rosalie asked.

"After you leave because Lord knows when I'll get to see you again and I can just take a taxi" I said.

"No, go now really I'll be fine on my own" she argued.

"No Rose, I'm waiting with you and that's final" I said and crossed my arm for added measure. "Now come on, let's go check in your suitcase." I said to her and stood up grabbing my one and leading the way.

"Bella" Rose said. I turned around frustrated to see that she was still seated.

"Yes Rose" I answered impatiently.

"It's that way" she said pointing in the opposite direction of where I was going.

"Humph" I said and began going in the direction she was pointing at.

xXx

After we had checked in her bag and checker her in we were seated near passport control waiting for her flight to be called I was really going to miss Rose, she'd helped me more than she would ever know and that was alright. Maybe one day in a couple of years when I'm settled down and happily married to a man who I love and loves me I'd tell him, I'd tell him everything, then I'd say 'Sometimes I wish I'd never met Jasper' and he'd cup my cheek and say 'I'm glad you did because it brought you to me' and then we'd kiss like they do in romantic movies. Some people may call what I'm doing taking the coward's way out –which it probably is- but to me its survival because I just know I wouldn't have survived if I'd stayed in Forks.

I still picture the moment Jasper saw me in my mind, the relief shining in his eyes, but I bet if he knew that I saw him kissing Alice there'd only be guilt there, by now Charlotte must have told them everything that'd happened and then Jasper would have put two and two together. I wonder if right now he's sharing all his problems with Alice. Confiding in her and she's consoling him, I bet he is.

What happened to my Jasper I thought? The boy that I'd met that day with the blue-green eyes and smile. The little scar and his honesty, I mean he even told me that he was a virgin but nowadays he was lying about the simplest things. I wonder if he'd give his virginity to Alice, it's not as big a deal for guys as it is for girls. For one they don't bleed at least I hope they don't, and it doesn't hurt them.

Sometimes, a lot of the time I hated how little experience I had with guys, it made me so vulnerable to attacks from people like Travis, I guess I just got out lucky unlike Lily, she was so much younger and her villain even fled to escape punishment. Their was so much injustice in the world, I thought back to Tanya, Carmen had told me that she wanted to take Tanya home to see her parents, so they were probably stretching out on a sunny beach.

"Bella, are you okay?" I heard a voice ask beside me, I turned to see Rose looking at me with a concerned expression.

"Yeah, just, guys huh, they say we're complicated" I spat out and was momentarily shocked by the venom in it and according to Rose's surprised expression she was too.

"Bella, it'll be okay, you're on vacation now, focus on Alec, leave all thoughts of Jasper and this mess behind." Rose said.

"Easier said than done"

"How old are you Bella?" she asked looking at me, her brows furrowed in concentration.

"16, 17 in September" I answered.

"See, you're still young you've got your whole life ahead of you. Just leave dicks like Jasper behind and move on with your life. You're worth ten of him" she said fiercely.

"How old are you Rose?" I asked repeating her earlier question.

"17 at the moment, 18 in April next year" she replied.

"Oh," I replied. "That's cool"

_Passengers boarding the 6.30am flight to Tennessee please go to gate number 5, I repeat passengers boarding the 6.30am flight to Tennessee please go to gate number 5. Thank you and enjoy your flight._

"I guess that's me" Rose said with a sigh.

"Yeah" I agreed. We both walked slowly towards the gate but when we got there I grasped her tightly in a hug.

"I'm going to miss you so much Rose" I began, tears falling from my eyes.

"Same here Bella" we pulled apart and I looked at her through tear filled eyes and gave her a watery smile which she mirrored.

"I need to go now Bella, but I'll call you when I land but you would have probably forgotten me after spending time with Alec" she teased. I blushed to the tips of my ears but couldn't help smiling, I wanted to forget someone but not Rose.

"I will remember you Rose, have a nice flight" I said.

"Bye" we said again and hugged one last time before she departed, I wiped my tears and began dragging my suitcase to the exit. Outside as I had predicted were several taxis' so I went to the nearest one.

"Hi" I said peering down into the window. A middle aged balding man turned to look at me.

"Where d'ya wanna go?" he asked. His voice was rough and gritty and judging by his breath it was probably due to all the years of heavy smoking.

"Scottsdale, Phoenix, number 5821 "I said.

"Sure" he replied. I climbed into the back of the taxi and dragged my suitcase onto the seat next to me then I buckled up and prepared myself for the ride back home. I couldn't believe I was really here, I couldn't believe that I'd made it this far. I turned to look out the window and smiled as I saw the sun shining back at me.

xXx

After an hour or so we made it to my house, I paid him the fare but this time he actually helped me with my suitcase. He drove off and I let myself into the house. It was 8.30 in the morning so the house was still quiet. I smiled at how familiar it was, I left my suitcase in the hallway and locked the front door before heading up the stairs. My legs were still sore and bruised and I was certain there was no way I could take the suitcase upstairs without hurting myself.

As much as I wanted to sprint up the stairs, I wanted to sleep more. The activities of today wee catching up to me and as I said earlier sleeping on an airport chair isn't entirely comfortable. I took my aching body and headed upstairs too my room, I could just imagine how it would feel to collapse on my bed, to fall into a deep sleep. The thought of just lying there, relaxing was so appealing I could literally imagine how soft and feathery my pillows were and how warm my bed would be. I sighed in happiness. I got to my door and slowly pushed it open.

Then I screamed.

Something screamed back.

So naturally I screamed louder.

And it screamed louder.

All of a sudden it stopped screaming and darted forward and before I had a chance to even attempt to escape the door was shut and I was engulfed in a hug.

"Bella! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, you're here early! Ooooh, I can't believe it, Bella!" it said. Wait the squealing, loud voice, hug and smell….

"Jane!" I screamed hugging her back and for a second time that day I felt my eyes welling up with tears, I had no idea she was staying here if I'd known I'd have come early.

"Bella" she said again, quieter this time. It was a good thing my room was sound proof and so was Renee and Phil's or else they'd be a bit pissed at having being woken so early.

"Jane what're you doing here? In my room?" I asked pulling away from her.

"Well, I was hoping that it'd be a big sleepover if we shared a room but you weren't here but you are now and ooooh" she said before grabbing me in another hug. If she was here then maybe….

"Don't you know some people are trying to sleep Jane!" an irritated voice sounded from the door. There stood shirtless in boxers at my door was Alec. He looked even better in person, his hair was strewn every which way and he was rubbing his eyes. So I guessed he hadn't seen me yet.

"Brother dear, there are more important matters at hand than sleeping" Jane retorted.

He snorted. "What like a sale, listen-"he stopped short catching sight of me. It was kind of funny how his eyes opened dramatically and his jaw dropped open. I walked up to him and stopped right in front of him, because of how close I was to him I couldn't help but blush.

"Bella" he whispered.

"Hey" I said shyly.

"Hey" he replied. He slipped his arms around my waist and hugged me; I grabbed him around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"I'm so glad you're back Bells" he went on. I pulled back to look at him but kept my arms around his neck.

"Glad to be back" I whispered.

Jane cleared her throat. "In case any of you were wondering I'm still here you know, alive and breathing" I turned to look at her and saw she had her arms folded but there was a smirk on her face. I blushed again.

"Stop being such a whiny bitch Jane, it's way too early in the morning at least give me till 10" Alec said nuzzling his head into my shoulder. I stepped away from him and saw a confused look flash across his face.

"Alec's right Jane, let's just get to bed we can spend time together later" I said. I felt something vibrate in my pocket and reached took out my phone.

_I'm here x Hope you have fun at your mums Bella _

_I will x You have fun too _I replied.

"Bella, Jane, I'm knackered so you can have her for now but later she's all mine" Alec said before winking at me and I felt the familiar blush seep into my cheeks. A minute later he was gone.

"Bella" Jane started leading me to the bed, her voice sounder weary and I wondered what was wrong "I know you and I know that you wouldn't just leave on an impulse like now" I was about to deny it but she lifted her hand and went "and don't say it was a surprise either, something must have driven you away, will you tell me" she asked" studying my expression.

I sighed again and flopped back on the bed, it was as though no matter how far I ran away, Jasper always chased me, the thought made me angry. I sat back up abruptly and turned to look at Jane who was regarding me with a cautious expression.

"Yeah, sure Jane let me just have a quick shower and brush my teeth. My skin feels disgusting" I said plastering a fake smile on my face.

"Ok" she replied still uncertain.

I walked over to one of my drawers and opened it searching for a pair of pyjamas, I found some shorts and a tank, then I pulled out some new underwear and hurried to the bathroom, I opened the cabinet to find a packet of unused toothbrushes so I took one out, I then proceeded to brush my teeth as I waited for the shower to heat up. I looked around but couldn't find any towels so I went to the cupboard next to the bathroom, to get one, by then the room was filling up with steam.

I finally stepped into the spray of water and it was like relief, the hot water worked to relieve all the kinks in my muscles and relax me, I reached forward blindly before remembering that I didn't bring my body wash or shampoo. _Change_ I thought sarcastically, the only change that could ever be good would be if Jasper and Alice suddenly disappeared off the face of the Earth, then I could be free of him.

_No you wouldn't _taunted a voice in the back of my mind. _You need Jasper to survive, you can't live without him, he may not need or want you, but you want him, you need him, you-_

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" I screamed. _Great!_ I was talking to myself. I turned off the shower and stepped onto the cool bathroom floor. I hurriedly dried myself and got dressed, my hair sat wet against my shoulder so I ran the towel through it and not locating a brush, had to make do with it like that.

I walked back to the bedroom considering how much to tell Jane, if I could I'd rather not bring it up but she could help me make up a good reason as to why I suddenly decided to come to Phoenix so I could tell Renee. Inside the bedroom, Jane sat cross legged on the bed, but when she heard me close the door, she turned her head to face me.

I sat down on the bed next to her and crossed my legs as well, she turned so we sat face to face, I looked at her and began my epic tale. I told her mostly everything about Jasper, the picture, running away and meeting Rose; after I was done I was pleased to see that there were no tears just a hollow feeling in my chest. Jane sat back and looked at me an odd expression on her face, I couldn't really see it as the curtains were closed and blocked most of the light out.

"Rose is right, he _is _as dick" she started, then she turned her head and began picking at the duvet before looking at me again "I think you might love him" she went on, I was about to object but she silenced me again "Listen, Bella it's not my place to speak, this is your life and all but I'm not sure if your 100% in love with him it's just that you sound so hurt-" I cut her off.

"Of course I'm hurt, he's meant to be my best friend and he lied to me _lied_ it's not right" I hissed.

"I know" she carried on "but maybe this break from him will do you good, we can give you a make over, you can re evaluate your feelings for him and who knows, you may even find a guy better than him" she said seriously. I snorted at that.

"I'm serious Bella, feelings aren't always set in stone you can move past him, you don't need him." She said fiercely yet at the same time softly.

"Yeah" I began teary eyed "Your right"

"Come here" she whispered affectionately and opened her arms for a hug. I crawled over to her and she engulfed me in her arms. I cried until I felt sleep wash over me and darkness drag me under.

xXx

I awoke to a darkened room and an empty spot in the bed next to me where Jane was just hours ago. I sat up and stretched comforted by the memory of my bed, I got out and walked to the window to open the curtains, light immediately flooded in filling every corner. It was almost as though being here, in Phoenix, all my dark shadows were being chased away. I smiled at the thought and flung open the windows. A breeze hit me and I inhaled deeply. It was good to be home. I wandered to the bathroom, to quickly brush my teeth; on the way there I noticed all of the rooms were strangely empty.

I went down the stairs still relishing the feeling of being home and wandered into the living room, Renee looked up from her perch on the chair. Her legs immediately stopped bouncing and I was shocked at how young she looked, how vulnerable. Her hair was tied into a pony tail and she was wearing a top that went down to her knees with quarter length jeans. She sprang out of her chair and pulled me into a hug, even though I couldn't see her face I could tell that she was crying. It seemed that having another child had made her even more emotional.

"Bella, I'm so glad you're here, safe" Renee cried pulling back to grab my face in between her hands "You're not hurt are you? Charlie called me, he was _so_ worried, all I know was that he said you took off leaving just a note and in the airport you ran away from, what was that boys name, erm….Jimmy, James, Jasper!" she said triumphantly. "He said you ran away from Jasper even though he tried to call you to come back" she paused for breath pulling me into a hug again. "Bella, baby what happened? What did they do to you sweetheart?" she pulled me onto the chair with her and positioned me in her lap. "Everything's going to be alright baby, everything, mummy will take care of you" she whispered over and over again into my hair. Her hand was rubbing my back gently and I could feel it soothing me, my eyelids began to droop again but I wasn't ready to sleep.

I pulled back and looked into Renee's eyes; they were red from crying and were full of pain. I felt guilty for hurting her as it wasn't my intention, all I wanted was an escape, and I didn't think anyone would be hurt. My eyes filled with tears but I knew that if I were to lie convincingly they couldn't fall. I forced a smile onto my face and began.

"Nothings wrong, I…I just couldn't wait to see all of you again" it sounded pathetic even to me and I hoped for once that Renee wouldn't push the issue.

"If you're sure honey" she said clearly unconvinced.

"Yeah" I said nodding my head.

"Okay" she agreed.

"Where's Phil?" I asked looking around.

"Oh, he's gone out with Alec, Jane and Nessie they should be on their way home from the beach by now" she answered. "Why don't you grab something to eat?" she asked.

I knew that I should have been hungry – starving even – but I just wasn't, I hardly ever got hungry these days, it was as though the only reason that I ate anymore was because I thought I needed to not because I wanted to.

"Yeah, sure, I'll go get something" I said turning to go to the kitchen.

"No!" she shouted. I turned around to look at her. "I'll make it, what do you want?" she asked. I was shocked, Renee was never really that good of a cook and it was a little surprising of her to offer.

"I've been taking cooking lessons and I've gotten a lot better Bella" she said answering my unspoken question.

"Um…Can I have a fruit salad with no bananas?" I asked hesitantly.

"Perfect" exclaimed Renee clapping her hands together "I know just the thing" she said bustling towards the kitchen.

I flopped down onto one of the chairs; the sun was shining in through the French windows, the sunset so evidently beautiful. I looked at the garden I had spent so much time in, the old oak tree I had attempted to climb so many times when I was younger. I was that although they moved to Jacksonville for a bit, that they didn't sell this house. It was too much of me and it would hurt to see it go.

Jane was right; I could do with a makeover. And a new body wash scent, I had always liked mango, strawberry was the old me. I could do this, I could.

"Food's ready Bella!" shouted Renee from the kitchen, I was about to make a move to go to her when she walked in carrying a plate which she handed to me. My fruit salad was on it but she had made a design our of it, styling it into an intricate flower design. It looked to pretty to eat but I couldn't resist sampling it. There was a mixture of fruit on it, grapes, strawberry, mango, pineapple you name it. The colours on the outside of the flower were the darker coloured fruit but they gradually built up into an explosion of beautiful colours that made up the sunset.

I ate slowly, savouring each bite, the taste of the mango as it slipped lowly down my throat leaving behind a trail of delectable juices. I honestly couldn't get enough of it so imagine my surprise when I noticed that the plate was empty! I looked on the ground thinking that they may have fallen because there was _no way_ I could have eaten so quickly. Renee was sitting on the table in front of me her hands clasped tightly together, her eyes shining bright, a smile was plastered on her face and I wondered what was making her so happy.

"Did you like it Bella?" she asked slightly nervous.

"I loved it mum" I replied smiling back at her. She gasped and leaned forward to grab my hand.

"Bella, when you call me mum, do you mean it, because I know I wasn't a very good one to you, at such a young age I put so much responsibility on you. I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry" she cried.

"No, No, don't cry mum, it's alright. You're a good mum and you keep getting better. The past doesn't matter, okay, ssh, ssh, don't cry okay, it's alright mum, everything's okay" I got on my knees and wrapped my arms around her waist burying my face in her stomach. She was a good mum, she was.

I heard the sound of a lock turning and turned to see Phil walking in with Alec and Jane behind them, Nessie was in Jane's arms but it looked as though she were fast asleep.

"Bella?" Phil questioned coming closer to me.

"Hey Phil" I said standing up and giving him a hug, I discreetly wiped my eyes and hoped that my eyes weren't red.

"I'm glad you're back" he said "Nessie's been missing her big sister." He went on.

"I've been missing her too" I replied, pulling away from him. "Can I tuck her in?" I asked.

"Sure" he replied. I walked over to Jane and she handed her over to me, Nessie's hair was long for her age and very curly. Her thumb was tucked adorably in her mouth, her fingers curled loosely into a fist. I walked up the stairs slowly being careful not to jostle her; I opened mum and Phil's bedroom door and placed Nessie in her cot. I then removed her shoes and jacket and switched on the baby monitor before walking back into the hallway.

Jane and Alec were standing there looking at me, Jane had a mischievous smile on her face whilst Alec had a pissed off expression. I was a little worried at what was going to happen.

"So I was thinking…."Jane started.

"Wow! That must have been a whole new experience for you" Alec said a serious expression on his face. Jane thumped him in the arm and continued.

"I was thinking tomorrow we could have a makeover day, you know hair cuts, spa, shopping" Jane was literally shaking from the excitement and she was right it could be just what I needed.

"Sure" I agreed with a small smile.

"There's going to be a huge bonfire, barbeque thing down at the beach afterwards, that we could go to, if you wanna come that is" Alec asked embarrassed.

"Sounds like fun" I said. I yawned loudly and covered my mouth in embarrassment but they just laughed.

"Come on Bella let's get you to bed" Jane said linking her arm with mine and leading me up the stairs to my room.

I turned around slightly and looked to see Alec watching me with a small smile on his face. "I'll meet you up their there" I whispered in Jane's ear before walking back down the stairs. Alec was still standing in the same position as before so I smiled at him, shyly. I walked right over to him and stood on my tip toes so my mouth was right next to his ear.

"Night Alec" I said gently before turning and rushing back up the stairs but that didn't stop me from hearing him.

"Sweet dreams Isabella"

This was definitely going to be a good holiday.

**The first part if her holiday, I reckon the chapters might be a little long because I'm breaking it down. Tell me what you guys thought as always.**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	17. Chapter 17

**Nearly 100 reviews thank you so much to everyone that's reviewed, a lot of people have been saying they hate Jasper and I'm sure a lot of you will like to know what's going on back in Forks, this Chapter will give you the general gist of it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 17**

Breakfast that morning was like a complete 360 to usual, first of all I ate more than I'm sure I ate in a day. Second of all my mum and Jane were all over me like mother hens making sure I had enough to eat and whether I wanted to try something new, Alec on the other hand simply smiled at me.

A smile that spoke volumes.

Rosalie was right, I did want to jump him, but I wanted something else, I wanted a romance with him, I wanted him to kiss me in the mornings and late at night, I wanted to go for strolls around the beach hand in hand. I wanted him to just smile at me all day because it made me happy to see him do it. Most of all, I was sure he hadn't changed, he was still Alec albeit hotter.

And I had a crush on him.

All through breakfast we kept talking, not verbally but with our eyes, mine were irritated but happy, his were amused. We kept up a running game of footsie underneath the table, I don't think anybody noticed but Jane kept giving me odd looks and she had a slight smile on her face, the kind that says I know something you don't.

"Ok I've already called ahead, and made all the arrangements, first we'll go to the spa, then we'll go to the hair dressers, there's this gorgeous one called Glam that I love going to" Jane began "basically, they do your hair and make up for you, pedicures and manicures so I've got that all booked, then it's shopping, Alec's coming along to carry-"

"Whoah, whoah, whoah, Alec's going nowhere" he stated pointing at himself.

"Oh, that's a shame then" Jane started a weird tone in her voice "I guess we could always just go and ask another guy to help us"

"What?" Alec questioned darkly.

"Yeah, it's just that Bella doesn't really like shopping and I just know that she'll get bored waiting by herself for me to gather all the outfits and I didn't want some strange perverts-" Alec cut her off again. She was looking really concerned but Jane could act and Alec was falling for it.

"No, course you wouldn't" Alec said a dazed look in his eyes.

"Maybe I could get Demetri to come along or Felix" Jane said as though the thought had only just occurred to her.

"No, no it's not fair, on Bella" he added hurriedly "I'll go after all she doesn't know any of them so…" he trailed off.

"Don't worry about it Alec, if there's something else you'd much rather be doing its okay, plus we'll see you at the bonfire tonight" I said, I was a little disappointed that he didn't want to spend any time with me but I understood, he must have a girlfriend.

It was so clear to me now, I misinterpreted everything, trust me to go and do that again, first with Jasper, now Alec, I was just glad I realised sooner or else I could have ruined our friendship just like I ruined my one with Jasper, although he was partly to blame.

"Hey kids, glad you've got everything sorted" mum said as she came into the room.

"Hey mum" I said smiling at her, I really felt that we'd bonded a lot more, I mean our relationship felt like how a mother-daughter' should.

"Bella you're dad's on the phone, he sounds really worried, didn't you call him when you got here last night." I didn't reply, simply stood up from the couch and took the phone from her before going out into the garden to talk to him.

"Dad?" I asked nervously.

"Bella" he said and in that one word I could hear how relieved he was, my guilt escalated tenfold and suddenly I regretted not telling him goodbye properly.

"Yeah dad"

"What happened?" he questioned carefully.

"Nothing dad" I said shaking my head before remembering that he couldn't see me.

"It didn't sound like nothing, when Charlotte called me at work she sounded frantic and panicked. She was crying so hard I could barely hear her, I told her I'll meet her at her house. I went there and saw Jasper with that girl again, I found out her name was Alice." He began.

"Then what happened?" I asked curious to see what was happening in Forks.

"I managed to get out of Charlotte that you arrived soaking wet, you went up stairs to change, came charging down crying and slipped on the stairs before taking off into the pouring rain bare foot. What were you thinking Bells? Anything could have happened, you could have gotten hurt, I don't know what-"I heard him taking a few deep breaths.

"I'm sorry dad" I whispered brokenly, tears dripped silently down my face and I suddenly felt cold, really cold. I rubbed my shoulders but it didn't stop the cold.

"Have fun at your mums Bella, we'll talk when you get back" he paused as if contemplating something. "You are coming back right?" he asked uncertainly.

I smiled sadly that he would think I would just up and leave him like that but I could understand why he felt that way, it happened when I was younger, and I technically did it a few days ago.

"I'm coming back Dad, I mean who'll cook for you if I don't" I joked weakly.

"Yeah" his voice sounded wistful. "Bye Bells, have fun" he said.

"Bye Dad" I whispered before hearing the dial tone in my ear. I turned it off and just stood there looking, looking until I felt arm wrap around my waist, I turned around and buried myself in Alec's hug.

"It's alright Bella, come on, let's go cheer you up" he released me and grabbed my hand leading me back into the house and out the front door. He helped me inside a car and closed the door before going round to the front seat and started the car. Jane turned around to look at me excitedly, her legs were shaking with how excited she was.

"Bella today is going to be so much fun! You'll get some new clothes and we get can pick you up a new bikini and you'll look so hot _every _guy will be swarming over you in that place and you'll forget all about Jasper in no time." She rambled excitedly. I saw Alec's hands tighten on the steering wheel and his jaw seemed to tighten slightly.

"Yeah" I answered agreeing with Jane.

"And, I bet you'll realise he wasn't even that hot to begin with" I snorted at that thought. "I'm serious Bella, do you have a picture so I can prove it" I took out my phone from my pocket and switched it on, it said I still had a lot of missed calls and text messages to answer so I set my phone to offline.

"Here" I said showing her a picture. It was one of my favourite ones, Jasper was playing guitar and it was Twilight, his eyes were a dark blue almost black colour and they had a piercing look about them, he was gorgeous.

"See, he's not, Fuck. Me. Now" Jane stated boldly.

"No thanks, I'm not really into the whole incest thing" Alec shot out. Jane hit him in the arm again.

"He's hot, Bella. I mean wow! Ok he may be hot but he's still a jerk" Jane confirmed with a firm nod of her head.

"Was he your boyfriend, Bella?" and I might have been hearing things but he sounded nervous.

"No, not really, just a guy who I thought I knew but in the end he was just messing me around" I answered, no tone in my voice, no emotion. Nothing. No tears either, it was as though I were a blank canvas.

"Ok" he replied though I heard the doubt in his voice.

"So how far away is the spa?" I asked plastering a fake mile on my face.

"About an hour by speed limit, 20-25 minutes by Alec's insane driving" Jane replied.

"Buckle up everyone we're nearly on the highway" Alec warned as he sped up. I could hear the engines revving and I grasped the edge of the seat for dear life.

This was definitely going to be a quick ride.

xXx

Soon enough we pulled up to a building and drove round to park. Alec came round to open mine and Jane's door and we walked inside, the front door was made of glass as were the outside walls. Inside the walls were painted a light blue with cream seats. The ceiling was a darker shade of blue but really pulled the room together, there were various assortments of plants around the room, their leaves a vibrant green which strangely reminded me of Esme's eyes, although hers were a bit more emerald in colour. Jane led the way to the front desk confidently whilst Alec and I followed awkwardly behind her.

"Ryan!" she squealed. The man at the desk looked up confused before a giant grin broke out on his face and he walked round to give her a hug.

"Jane, honey, how have you been? You look so good" he replied just as happy. I was getting vibes that he was a little homosexual but I couldn't be sure.

"Fine, fine, this is Bella and you've met Alec" she said turning round to introduce us.

"Yes I have" Ryan replied appraising Alec with his eyes, Alec turned and walked to a wall full of various posters and leaflets and pretended to look at them, he even held his hand to his chin to try and make it more believable.

It didn't work.

Ryan laughed gently, clearly not offended and turned to me, he walked around me in a circle, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"She's having her legs and a Brazilian as well as a body wrap" Jane said to him.

"All off?" Ryan asked surprised.

"Every. Single. One" Jane answered punctuating the words with a poke in his chest.

"Are you a virgin?" Ryan asked. I blushed profusely, shocked at why he would ask that, I looked at Jane panic clear in my eyes. Jane caught my eye and smiled.

"Bella he means have you ever been to a spa before or done any of these before but I guess you haven't" Jane answered.

"She's so cute, I never knew girls still blushed" Ryan said smiling.

"Well, Bella's one of a kind." Jane began. "You don't find girls like her these days"

"Yeah"

We stood in silence for a few second before Ryan went back to the desk and began writing some thing down very quickly.

"Ok we'll start with the Brazilian, then her legs, ok?" he asked.

"Perfect" Jane said clapping her hands together. Ryan made a motion for me to follow him but stopped and turned around to look at Jane again.

"She does know what a Brazilian is?" he asked concerned. Jane looked down guiltily.

"I'm not sure" she admitted honestly.

"Well she's in for a shock" Ryan said before walking away again. I had no idea what had just happened, but I had no clue what was going on I mean what was a Brazilian. We walked in silence down a narrow hallway and he ushered me into a small room. All that was in there was a bed kind of thing and a portable table thing that had some things on it.

"OK sweetie pie, I'm going to leave the room now, please remove your trousers and knickers, lie down on the bed and put that blanket over your lower half whilst I go and get the wax" Ryan said. I stared at him in horror at what he was saying. I was getting waxed _down there!_ I couldn't believe it, I began shaking my head and backing away although there was no where to run to, he was blocking the only exit from the room and there was very little space in there.

"No, no, no!" I shouted at him.

"Don't worry honey it gets easier the more you do it, we'll do your private parts and then your legs, trust me it will be worth it" Ryan had come over to me by now and had his hands on my shoulders rubbing them gently.

"Ok" I whispered defeated. As I walked over to the bed, I heard the sound of the door shutting closed behind me ad knew I was all alone. I removed my shoes first then my socks and jeans. I took my jacket off as well and sat down. This was more embarrassing than having to strip in front of Charlotte, I took off my knickers ad put them in the middle of my folded clothes before placing them on the ground. I lay down and put the blanket over my lower half.

A knock sounded on the door and I called for him to come in. Ryan answered a smile on his face and steaming wax in his hands. He walked over and put it on the trolley then put on a pair of gloves.

"Ok spread your legs and push your feet up so they touch your thighs, yes like that." Ryan began. I was so embarrassed, I could literally feel the blush spreading across my cheeks and down my legs. No one had ever seen me down there before let alone a man, I didn't want to but I knew that if I didn't he'd get Jane and she might end up seeing me down there and what about Alec, did he know what was happening to me. It would be completely mortifying then again he might not care because of his girlfriend.

"Now I'm going to push the blanket back and spread the wax" Ryan's voice was soothing and it helped calm me down a little.

"Hold on, I have to cut the hair a bit because it's too long to just wax" I wanted to die.

I felt the cool blade of the scissors as they sliced away the hair and soon enough I could feel the liquid of the hot wax being spread. It wasn't too bad and felt almost relaxing, I didn't get why people complained all the time. I felt Ryan laying something over it and then I saw red. All engulfing pain filled me, I was in pain, the kind of pain where you couldn't even make a sound to show you were in pain, a few tears escaped from my eyes but the rest just clogged my throat. I wanted to run but my legs felt like they were being held down with lead. The pain had numbed my legs I guessed but even if I could run the pain would have stopped me.

"There that wasn't too bad was it and you were so quiet" Ryan exclaimed. "Are you sure this was your first time?" he asked distractedly as he put on some more wax. All I could do was nod my head, he finished and I was so glad.

"Now, it's time for the lips" he said.

"It's not over?" I asked shocked.

"No darling and this part will hurt more" he said sympathetically.

The wax was spread again and if I thought it hurt before, then I must have been crazy. I was surprised blood was spilling out, it was as though as being poked with thousands of red hot needles all of them causing sufficient damage and pain plus whoever said beauty was pain was spot on. I was going to murder Jane, I was sure of it. He finished up soon enough and put something cool over it. He then told me it was time to wax my legs.

"Don't worry, legs hurt a lot less" he stated and he was right. I could barely feel it because all my energy was focused on the pain between my legs.

"Ok sweetie, take off your t-shirt and bra, here's a robe just put it on and you'll meet up with Jane for your body wraps and mud baths" Ryan said as he exited the room.

I got up slowly and could feel the pain fading away, I removed my t-shirt and bra as instructed and quickly slipped the robe on, I folded my clothes into a pile, grabbed my shoes and walked out the door. Jane was standing waiting for me outside her own things in hand.

"How was it?" she asked excitedly. I was beyond angry with her, how could she have done that to me. Hell!

"How could you have done that to me!" I shouted at her. She looked shocked for a second, blinked and began taking again.

"Ryan said you didn't even make a sound, don't worry Bella, it gets easier the more you do it" as she said this she began walking down one of the hallways.

"What makes you think I'd be crazy enough to do this again?" I asked peed off.

"When you feel how smooth you are, you'll appreciate it, plus you'll look even better in the bikini you'll wear to the bonfire tonight. I can just imagine it…." Then she was off in her own little world of talking about clothes. I tried to pay attention to what she was saying but mainly I just zoned her out.

"Here is our locker, since we'll be together for the rest of the day it's okay that we have one, are you wearing a towel underneath" she asked. I shook my head no. "Well here you go, go into that cubicle and put it on" as she spoke she pointed in the direction of one. I quickly went in and wrapped the towel tightly around me then I put the robe back on.

"We're going in for our body wraps which are over there" I looked apprehensively in the direction she was looking at.

"Come on Bella, it'll be fun" Jane squealed before grabbing my hand and pulling me in that direction.

We were both led into separate rooms, the women in mine smiled at me before telling me to lie down, she had brown hair that was tied into a pony tail and was wearing a plain navy blue t-shirt.

"Hey, I'm Lizzie" she said smiling brightly at me.

"Hi, I'm Bella" I replied shyly, blushing as usual.

"Okay, is this your first time?" she asked me.

"Yeah" I replied my voice quiet even to me.

"Don't be nervous, it's actually quite relaxing. So I'm going to leave but can you use these two towels to cover yourself as I'm sure you wouldn't want a complete stranger seeing your bits. Call for me when your done" she smiled at me and left the room. I quickly covered the important parts and I noted that the towel felt odd down there, then I called for her.

"So I'm going to start by rubbing gel into your skin" she grabbed a pot of gel I hadn't noticed before and began massaging the gel into my legs and ankles. She was right it was relaxing, the gel smelt really nice too, the kind that you want to fill a bath with and sit in it all day.

She then applied it to my abdomen rubbing it in a clock wise motion mentioning something about it upsetting the digestive system if she didn't, afterwards she massaged my arms using enough pressure to make me want to sleep, and whenever the towel moved she would gently move it back into place. I could really see myself doing this again.

"Ok a body wrap is basically applying a product to the entire body, wrap the body in foil and then apply a blanket, it allows our bodies to sweat and get rid of toxins but it also allows our bodies to absorb all the nutrients and minerals from the product because there's nowhere for it to go" Lizzie said showing me everything as she did it.

"Are you comfortable Bella?" she asked.

"Yeah" I replied confused by the question.

"I'm asking because some clients might need a bolster" she said answering my silent question.

"First we are going to use our Mylar foil sometimes known as a space blanket" she said moving it in a little jig movement.

"I'm going to wrap you up like a burrito now" she said "We need to make sure every side is tucked in so you can retain heat" I nodded my head showing that I was actually listening to her.

"Are you claustrophobic?" she asked pausing what she was doing.

"No" I replied my throat a little dry.

She wrapped a blanket around my feet and I could already feel my skin heating up. My pores were tingling but in a good way. She grabbed another blanket and wrapped it around my shoulders, tucking it underneath my neck.

"Now we're going to leave you wrapped for between 20-30 minutes" Lizzie said looking at me, I felt like I had just been mummified.

xXx

About 25 minutes later Lizzie came back into the room, she removed the blanket and the foil before grabbing a smaller flannel like object and began patting me dry. She then started applying a product to my skin telling me that it was an anti oxidant that contained grape seed, chardonnay and organic grape butter. It smelled nice and made me feel kind of hungry despite the large amount of breakfast that I ate.

"It's great for keeping the skin smooth and for re-hydrating it as well." Lizzie informed me. She applied the cream using the same movements as before. She was also massaging my skin a little.

"Ok sweetie your done, here's a towel wrap that around you and your friend will be waiting for you outside" Lizzie said cheerily before packing away a few bits and bobs and leaving the room. I sat, my skin feeling really nice and smooth like she'd said. I picket up the towel she had given me and wrapped it around my body, then I grabbed my robe and walked out the room to meet Jane outside.

"Wow" Bella your skin looks like it's glowing. You're a whole new woman" Jane exclaimed loudly. I smiled at her because I felt like one too, older more mature even though I was going to be 17 soon. I was excited to get back to school as well because some students could be selected for a fast track and there was a chance I could be selected so I'd basically graduate a year earlier. The only down side was that Alice could be smart too and she'd get fast tracked and then I'd have to watch her and Jasper get all googly eyed at each other in class.

"I feel like one" I said smiling. I really did.

"Time to go shopping "Jane squealed loudly and for once I was actually kind of excited at the prospect of it, rather than the usual feeling of dread, we walked back to the changing room talking and giggling like normal teenage girls, I hadn't felt right in so long. We quickly got changed back into our clothes when a thought struck me.

"Where's Alec?" I asked Jane confused. She turned to look at me, gave me an odd look then a smile graced her face.

"Waiting for us of course" Jane said.

"Oh" I replied and though I may not have sounded like it I was a little excited to see Alec, I mean what would he think of me now?

We reached the waiting room and Alec was sitting slumped in a chair staring at the wall, Jane walked over to him and said something in his ear before they both turned to look at me, he nodded his head and said something back to her then stood and walked out the door. Jane beckoned for me to follow them so I did. We got back into the car and began the long drive to Seattle. I drifted off at some point and awoke to the sound of a whispered argument between Alec and Jane.

"Come on, I'm sure she does" Jane was saying.

"Did she actually say that?" Alec answered. I still had my eyes closed but I could imagine him, his brow screwed, his face flushed slightly red.

"No, but girls know these things" Jane was trying again.

"No Jane, just leave it, we'll sort things out together, it means our relationship will be stronger" I summed up that Alec was in an argument with his girlfriend and Jane was trying to help sort it out. I felt sorry for Alec, he felt things really strongly and I guessed that he really liked this girl judging by his tone of voice.

I decided it was time for me to wake up so I did this little act of yawning and stretching my arms to give the appearance of it, Jane and Alec quickly shut up and began looking out the window as if it held the most interesting things in the world, I restrained a laugh and instead gave a confused look as if I didn't know where I was.

"We're nearly there Bella" Jane said to me from the front, a look passed between her and Alec as their eyes met in the window reflection. Maybe Jane w as right, maybe Twinpathy did exist.

xXx

As Jane had said it wasn't long before we pulled up to a shopping centre, Alec drove around a bit looking for somewhere to park but eventually found one near the entrance. He had remarked that it would be good as it mean he wouldn't have to walk as far to get rid of the crap that he was sure Jane would be buying.

We walked inside, Jane leading the way. The first store she decided to step into was probably the worst choice of them all.

I would have a thousand Brazilian waxes to avoid coming here.

I'd pull my eyelashes out.

I'd watch Jasper and Alice fall in love.

Actually that's taking it too far but I definitely didn't want to step foot into this store, especially not with Alec here. I stood looking at it as though we were in the middle of a show down. My legs felt like lead and I couldn't move, I was sure my face had twisted up into a horrified and very unattractive expression but I didn't care.

I wanted to run screaming from the centre but all I did was watch as Jane made her way in and start browsing as though she came here everyday

Shit! Maybe she did.

I didn't even want to imagine what Alec's reaction to this was. Was he used to this? Or did he feel like a pervert?

I wouldn't blame him.

This shop, a shop I have never entered, a shop I have never dared to enter no matter how much my mum tried to persuade me to. If I was honest I'd tell you I was afraid of it but I preferred lying to myself as it made it easier to deal with life in general. So the lies I'd tell myself every time was: I'm too young or I'm single.

That was bull and I knew it, I'm sure it give me a raise in confidence but I'm sure I'd be mortified and blushing beetroot red just by owning any. I remember when Jane had shown me a catalogue of it, I had covered my eyes spouting something about how she was trying to corrupt my innocent mind. She had of course replied 'You need to pop your cherry sometime' how blunt.

I thought about my actions, running away would be something the old Bella did and I wasn't her. I just had to keep reminding myself that, I didn't need Jasper to hold my hand for me or tell me everything would alright. I could do this, I knew I could. I took a deep breath and faced my fear head on, I puffed out my chest a little and took my first stride towards the store.

Towards my fear.

Towards…

Victoria's Secrets.

**So I'm going to cut the chapter off there, was this what you expected, more about Bella's makeover in the next chapter plus I love to hear your opinions I mean is there anything specific you want Bella to get done in her makeover like dying her hair a certain colour or getting a piercing. I might include the bonfire in the next chapter but that depends on how many reviews I get on this one so don't for get to hit that little button!**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	18. Chapter 18

**Some I know I'm late sorry but things have been really hard at the moment, let's see I want to change the summary of this story and was wondering if you guys will help me with it. Leave any ideas you have in your review.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 18**

Entering the store wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be, actually it was quite easy. The hard part was knowing that Alec would see whatever Jane purchased for me and not only would he see it, but he'd know I owned it which might mean if someday I happened to wear it, he'd know and he'd remember and I'd blush and avoid him and things would get very, very awkward.

Jane was over at one of the racks flicking through the lingerie at a pretty fast pace, it was almost comical watching her do it. She had this look of extreme concentration on her face, she'd even gone one step further and put her hair in a pony tail so it didn't hinder her view.

I could imagine her dressed in war paint and screaming a battle cry as she fought over a piece with another woman, actually she was fighting with another woman and Jane face was turning quite red from anger but she won. I felt pleased until I saw what the piece was: a red silk bra with a matching silk thong and from the way she was eyeing me I didn't think it was hers.

I began shaking my head and backing away until I remembered I was a new Bella. The old Bella would have shied away from everything but this Bella wore sexy underwear and had Brazilian waxes. I was tired of being innocent Bella who'd barely even kissed a guy, who attracted the worst guys, I mean for once couldn't something just come easily. I mean let's look at my record of guys:

Travis – attempted to sexually assault and or rape me but did manage to drug me and give me nightmares.

Eric – does he really count, I mean he did try to kiss me and he was a bit greasy for my liking.

Jasper – *sigh* I really wished he didn't sneak around my back like that, I really wished he'd never kissed me, but I couldn't regret it. I'd always want Jasper and I never wanted to let him go even though he wasn't really mine to begin with.

Alec – He still had a great personality even better now, he's a gorgeous guy with a hot body that I wanted to jump, he has a girlfriend and it wouldn't be right of me to go after him plus would it be right seeing as he was my step dad's sisters son making him my step cousin.

So my record was pretty crap! Maybe I'd have some luck at the bonfire, maybe I'd see my true love and fall madly and passionately head over heels and we make love on the beach- maybe that's pushing it a bit far, it's weird I was already planning on loosing my virginity to a guy I hadn't even met. _Great! _I thought sarcastically. Jane was still looking at me quite impatiently but I noticed she had a few more pieces, I looked around but couldn't see Alec anywhere. I took the garments from her and was glad to see the smile she threw my way but I had a few conditions like I wanted to pay for it myself.

"Listen Jane-" but she cut me off.

"I know what you're going to say Bella but don't worry Uncle Phil said he's going to cover everything, okay?" Jane said. I nodded my head but I wasn't done.

"Yeah but I refuse to buy a thong, I mean seriously apart from me and my bedroom mirror I'm the only one who's going to see me in it, plus I wouldn't feel comfortable." I said awkwardly. Jane laughed at me.

"Ok, ok then Bella. Boy shorts and briefs but come one you have to buy at least one thong, please" she asked and gave me her puppy dog look, even sticking out her bottom lip. I crumbled.

"Fine" I conceded.

"Yay" she squealed and threw her arms around my neck.

I followed her round the store as she looked at the different racks finding something for us, I honestly wasn't sure what worried me more. That Jane knew her way round so well or that she knew my bra and underwear size.

We went into the changing room my load in my arms hers in hers, we were right next to each so it was easy for her to see whether she liked them or not. Some of them I tried on, some I refused point blank on getting. Jane was a little more…..adventurous than me. She had a pair of crotch less panties and a nipple less bra. When I asked her about it later all she said was for easy access. I honestly doubted that she was a virgin but Jane could surprise you.

We went out to pay and as Jane said earlier Phil's card took care of everything, he really was a good person and as much as I loved Charlie, I loved Phil too.

After we paid we walked out the store and I still couldn't see Alec, Jane didn't look too bothered and wondered why until I saw him lounging by the car. He opened the boot and put our stuff in before we walked back into the centre, I guessed that it was going to be a long day.

As we walked along we saw a young girl walking with what I assumed was her grandmother. Jane looked longingly at them and I could have sworn her eyes glassed over for a bit. A sad look engulfed her face, I grabbed her hand and squeezed it comfortingly. She sniffed a little and offered me a watery smile.

"Sorry, it's just that I miss my Nonna and Nonno, is all. Don't worry I'll be all right." I had forgotten they were half Italian. I gave her a smile in return and before long she was back to her happy self, she bounced along to a clothes shop and I reluctantly followed her inside.

"Okay Bella, go stand in that changing room and I'll pass you clothes, alright?" she didn't give me tie to reply as she sped off into the shop and began looking through the different rails. I did as I was told and stood in the changing room, I was glad that all I had to do was try clothes on and I knew in my heart that I would probably get everything she told me to because this was a new Bella. This Bella was more outgoing and didn't let certain people push her around, this Bella was also more confident.

A knock sounded on the door and I opened it to see Jane with a handful of clothes, she beamed at me as I took it and closed the door. Let the changing begin!

The first few tops were quite pretty but what caught my attention the most out of all of them was this dress. It was a deep blue halter neck with a scooped back. It flowed into a semi pleated skirt in the same colour that landed just above my knees. Around my waist was a black sash that could be removed. It was gorgeous and I loved it.

Jane had even called Alec over to come and look at it, I spun around in a circle and blushed as he complimented me. He was a good guy and any girl would be lucky to have him even if it wasn't me.

We wondered round the shops, Jane dragging us through everyone till we landed at the swim shop and when I say the swim shop I mean it was called 'The Swim Shop'. We wondered in Jane babbling on about how I needed a bikini as she was sure I didn't have one in Forks. She was right I didn't and I was really comfortable revealing so much skin that a bikini would cost.

"Bella, I think you should look around for what you want and I'll see if it flatters you enough. Alec will be back in a minute and if you can't find me just get him to see it, okay?" Jane said with a nod of her head before walking off to find herself one.

I looked around the store, which was quite large and began making my way towards the back of the store where I saw a few nice colours. The first one I picked out was a red swimming costume with a halter neck, it would cover me up quite nicely but I doubted Jane would improve. I closed my eyes and tried to put myself in her shoes so I could see what she would pick, it was easier than I thought and soon I was holding five different bikinis. I looked around the store but couldn't see Jane anywhere so I made my way to a changing room.

The first one I slipped on was a white bikini with black details all over it. Instead of a bikini bottom it had shorts with black drawstrings, I walked around in it for a bit and put it to the side as one I wouldn't mind getting.

The second one was a little more promiscuous, it was a scarlet red colour and a swimming costume. It had no sides and was dotted with silver studding. The front was also bare so my belly was showing as well. The neck was quite low cut and was studded as well. It'd have looked gorgeous on someone like Rosalie who'd also be able to fill it out as well. On me it just looked like a child playing dress up in her mommy's clothes. With a sigh and a heavy heart I removed it and put it to the side as a no.

The third one I tried on would have to be my favourite one, it was a gorgeous turquoise blue colour with shorts and a halter neck top. The middle of the bikini was connected with a silver strap but you tied it at the back. The shorts were also connected with the silver strap but it looked gorgeous. When I put it on, I felt worthy of wearing it, it pushed my breasts up a little and made them look bigger without revealing more skin than I was comfortable with. I loved it and knew that I was definitely going to get it. Jane would be quite proud I thought to myself.

The fourth bikini I tried on was black in colour and was also strapless, I felt uncomfortable wearing it as I constantly fell like it was going to fall down exposing my little breasts to the world. I could just imagine the scene and was already cringing in embarrassment. The bottoms were black briefs as well and if it had straps I would have probably picked it but it was a no and I put it to the side with a heavy heart.

The fifth one was also quite nice, red again but this time it had black heart designs all over it. The bikini top was a halter neck and it had matching briefs. I smiled at myself pleased in the mirror then frowned as I remembered it was now one of Jaspers favourite colours. I couldn't decide whether to get it or not but eventually decided to put it in the yes pile.

I quickly got changed by into my regular clothes and walked out of the changing room in search for Jane and soon bumped into Alec. I was falling backwards at an alarming speed when two strong arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me into his chest. I gasped slightly at how nice he smelt, I couldn't really pin point it but it was….delicious.

I pulled back slightly to peek at him and saw him looking at me intently before clearing his throat and dropping his arms from around my waist. He bent down to retrieve the bikini's I hadn't even realised had fallen and I blushed as he began looking through them. My face turned a horrible shade of red as he pulled the red swim suit from the pile. He held it out to me and raised one of his eyebrows as a smirk came onto his face.

"I…I…I'm not getting that" I stuttered out. He frowned and looked at it again.

"Why?" he asked confused. "I think you'd look gorgeous in it" that threw me. He had a girlfriend and was flirting with me, maybe.

"Are you serious?" I asked surprised.

"Dead serious" he replied looking me in the eye.

"Seriously?" I asked again.

"If I was anymore serious I'd be dead" he shot out.

"Seri-" but I was cut off.

"Enough with all the seriously" Jane screeched looking annoyed. She grabbed the pile from Alec's hand and began making her way towards the till.

"No" I shouted running after her. I wasn't sure but it looked like she sped up a little more, I quickly caught up to her and grabbed for the pile.

"Bella, what's wrong these are gorgeous. I knew you had it in you" Jane squealed.

"No, not the black one get me all of them if it'll make you happy just not the black one" I begged.

"Okay" Jane shrugged and handed the black one back to me. I saw Alec walk past me to reach her, he whispered something to her and she turned back to look at me giving me a blinding smile before turning back to the cashier.

"Where to next?" I asked Jane as she led the way out the doors to somewhere else.

"It's time to begin the clothes shopping" Jane said seriously.

I died a little inside.

**So I'm cutting the chapter off here, I know it's a little shorter than what I've been doing these days but I can honestly promise you that the next chapter will have the bonfire and we will meet the mystery stranger. Don't forget to review!**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	19. Chapter 19

**Sorry that you guys had to wait for the bonfire but I promise you it will be worth it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 19**

"Jane this is enough" I argued.

"Just one more shop" she pleaded. "This shops really important, they have some of the most gorgeous dresses, please"

"No"

"Bella if you go with me into this shop I won't take you shopping for the rest of the week" Jane proposed. I considered this before shaking my head.

"If I go in you won't take me shopping the rest of my trip" I smiled. Jane considered this for a moment, narrowing her eyes at me before an evil glint appeared in her eye disappearing just as quickly.

"Okay" she said grabbing my arm and leading me into the shop. Alec was making another round to the car with our shopping bags. Every time Jane went to pay, I never went with her because I never wanted to know how much was being spent on just _clothes._

The inside of the shop was gorgeous and I could see why Jane liked it so much, it had a homely feel to it and was decorated in pastel colours.

Rather than circling the shop as Jane usually did she headed for one place immediately right at the back. I followed behind her with my head down blushing for no reason whatsoever. She was going through the racks but eventually stopped staring intently at something. She then turned to look at me and smiled before pushing me in the direction of the changing room.

"Ok Bella see if this one fits, I hope it does as this is the only one there at the moment and since I can't bring you back anytime soon it needs to fit" Jane started. I nodded my head in response to her words. A sad look appeared on her face and she looked at me forlornly.

"Why have you lost so much weight Bella?" she whispered to me. She looked at me expectantly and I turned to face away from her.

"I don't _what_ you are talking about Jane" I answered rudely because I had no idea what she had meant, sure I was skipping meals every now and then didn't mean I had lost any weight.

"Whatever" she sighed and handed me the dress before turning to walk away. She stopped and without turning back said in a hollow voice "I'll meet you by the till" and began walking again.

I walked into my cubicle and began stripping out of my clothes. The dress I tried on was beautiful scarlet red and strapless; the neck had gold lining on it and was gorgeous. I took the dress off and hung it up; I bent down to grab my top when I caught sight of myself in the mirror.

Jane was right, I hadn't really noticed before but I had lost weight not so badly that my ribs were sticking out or I was borderline anorexic but enough that it was obvious to those who knew me. I poked at my stomach a few times before turning and getting dressed.

I walked out of the changing room clutching the dress tightly, I looked around the shop and as Jane said she was by the till. I walked over to her and she silently removed the dress from my hands and paid.

I walked out of the shop and waited for her on one of the benches. I kept thinking about what she had said about me losing weight, I hadn't even realised I had, I'd always been quite slim to begin with, it just didn't register with me what was happening. It wasn't even as though I was doing it on purpose, I just never really felt hungry.

I grabbed my phone and set the profile to General, instantly, my phone began making noise and beeping. I looked down and was shocked to see I had 90 missed calls from Jasper alone. There were several voice messages and numerous texts as well. I bit my lip contemplating whether or not I should read them.

My defences were crumbling and as I was about to read the first message when Jane bounced out of the shop and towards me, her arms loaded with three shopping bags. I wondered when she got the time to shop for all of those things but put it out of my mind, this was Jane after all.

"Ready to go?" she asked me any anger she may have had was long gone. That was one of the things I loved about Jane "I already called Alec and he said he'll wait for us at the car" she went on.

"Sure" I smiled "and Jane about earlier-"

"Don't worry about it; I get it, well kind of why you ended up losing weight. Stress, heartbreak and betrayal does that, but Bella, he's not, no guy is worth hurting yourself over, ok" she said soothingly.

I nodded my head but could feel the tell tale tears pricking at my eyes. I sniffed a little but didn't let them fall. He wouldn't affect me, not here and I promised myself I would read the messages preferably somewhere, where I could cry in private.

We had already began making our way to the exit of the shopping centre, people were passing us by in large groups, many and I mean many guys were turning to look at Jane but she either didn't notice or ignored them as she chatted onto me about the hair dressers. I had forgotten we made plans to go there and was excited as to what I'd look like afterwards.

We reached the car shortly afterwards and were soon on our way to the hairdressers. The car ride was pretty short and we were soon pulling into a small car park. The front of the hair dresser had the name in silver italics.

I stared on in wonder and then realised that I hadn't even thought about Jasper's messages. I got out of the car and shut it behind me and followed Jane as she skipped into the hair dressers. I followed along nervously but soon relaxed once we got inside it was fairly large, bigger than I expected judging by the outside of it. There were also different stations, some for hair, manicures and pedicures and so on. Soft music flowed from somewhere but it was too quiet for me to properly hear it.

Jane walked straight up to the counter and began talking to the lady there, I blocked out what they were saying until Jane walked up to me instructing that I should follow one lady.

"Hello I'm Zafrina" she said politely. She was tall, very tall and reminded me of an Amazonian, she was also extremely pretty and looked like she should be walking on the runway rather than preparing others to walk on it.

"I'm Bella" I replied shyly. Her eyebrows shot up and she looked over her shoulder at Jane.

"Bella, Bella Swan?" she asked. I nodded my head in reply confused as to how she knew my last name.

"So, you're Bella, I've heard so much about you from your mother Renee and Jane, I'm Renee's stylist and also a good friend of the family, she always gushes about you. I've heard some wonderful things" she explained. I blushed, surprised that Renee spoke about me to people.

"Ok so _Bella _here needs a good old fashioned makeover, long story short, a guy screwed her over and now she's going to go back as Super Girl but more importantly there's a bonfire tonight down on the beach, I've already picked her clothes but I want Bella to look gorgeous" Jane stated a fierce determination in her eyes.

"Well, Bella is naturally beautiful so when it comes to makeover she doesn't really need anything. As for her hair, I'm thinking a couple of highlights, red ones precisely" she said lifting my hair up "you can see in the light how their are red hues, the highlights just to make them stand out, another idea could be adding blonde highlights but dyeing her hair a few shades lighter to stick with that _au natural _look" Zafrina continued doing a wonderful French accent.

"I'm not sure, I mean this holiday is about re creating hair" Jane grabbed my chin and tilted it to the side "I think we'll go with the blonde highlights idea, Jasper won't know what hit him" she squealed at me.

"Perfect, Bella if you would just sit over here, we're going to start by giving you a manicure and pedicure, this is Sennashe'll be doing it for you, so for now I will be leaving you in her very capable hands" Zafrina said to me before going off someone.

"Ok Bella have you ever had your nails done before?" she asked me. I shook my head no but she didn't look too surprised.

"That's okay, I'm going to just give you a simple design on your nails nothing that could fall off and I won't make it to long either" she then got started getting everything ready.

"You're going to look amazing when everything's finished – not that you don't now – but you'll look even better" Jane said from next to me where she was getting her nails done.

I smiled in reply she was right this was just what I needed; I sat back down and waited patiently as she did her magic.

xXx

"Bella your nails look gorgeous, seriously, I'm almost jealous" Jane squealed. "I can't wait for you to do your hair; you're going to just blow all the guys away at the beach later"

I smiled but didn't agree I just wasn't that amazing.

"Okay Bella, sit here. I'm just going to start by washing your hair and applying the dye. I'm thinking a chestnut colour?" she asked looking at Jane.

"Yeah, that'd be perfect" she said, nodding her approval. Before I knew it, warm water was cascading onto my hair and a shampoo was being washed into it, the shampoo smelt tropical and a bit like mangos, I liked it, Zafrina then proceeded to massage my scalp. I was getting sleepy when she rinsed out the soap. After that she dried my hair then opened the dye and put it into my hair rubbing it into every strand.

"Right now we're going to leave it for a bit so it can settle and I'm going to get your highlights ready" Zafrina said before walking off.

I stayed there for what felt like hours before Zafrina came over to rinse the dye off. After that she towel dried my hair and took me to one of the stations and put in the blonde highlights. She had covered the mirror so that I couldn't see my reflection as she wanted it to be a surprise to me.

"Ok nearly there Bella now all that's left is too finish blow drying and voila!" she exclaimed happily. "Close your eyes, it's the moment of revelation" she spun my chair around to face the mirror "Open your eyes"

I was speechless.

The girl in the mirror looked so familiar but I didn't know her at all, her hair flowed in waves down her shoulder, her skin glowed and she looked beautiful. My mind flashed back to the portrait of Alice. _Innocent_ that was what I looked like. My cheeks were blushing red as were my lips, my eyes wide innocent. Brown. Expressive.

I smiled, for once I really felt beautiful.

In the mirror I could see Zafrina wringing her hands together and Jane was looking at me nervously and I realised I was still to say what I thought of my look.

"I...I..." I started croaking. I cleared my throat and began again. "Is that me?" I asked still in disbelief. Jane nodded her head in the background. "I...I love it, I love it so much, I just...I can't believe" tears spilled over and streamed down my face. Jane wrapped her arms around me shushing me and wiping away my tears.

"You're beautiful Bella. Don't ever doubt that, not ever." Jane whispered fiercely. I nodded my head. My phone vibrated in my pocket alerting me to the fact that I had a text message.

I pulled it out and noticed it was from Jasper. I hesitated about whether I should open it or not but eventually decided I should. It was the most recent one.

3 words.

3 words that made my heart leap into my throat and reawakened those feelings I had tried to ignore.

_I miss you _

xXx

We left soon after that and when I say that I mean after Alec complimented me on my new hair and I blushed and stammered like an idiot, completely unable to form a coherent sentence but she just smile and led me to the car but on the way I remembered I was still missing some toiletries.

"Jane, I need a new body wash and shampoo, is there a chemist around here or something" I asked.

Jane turned around to smile at me "I noticed and took the liberty of picking you out one myself, you'll love it"

"Anything but strawberry" I muttered.

"Nope" she said popping the p "I got you mango I hope that's alright?" she asked.

"Yeah" I smiled relieved until I remembered Jasper hated the smell of mango.

"It's Alec's favourite" she added. Wow they were like total opposites, light haired, dark haired, like mango, hate mango.

"Cool" I said before turning to look out the window.

"Bella, how would you feel about doing something memorable on this trip?" Jane asked nervously.

"Sure" I hedged "What did you have in mind?" I asked.

"I'm not sure; I was still in shock that you said yes. Maybe we could get matching tattoos or we could get our belly buttons pierced together. Not now but like near the end of the trip because when you get them done you can't go swimming in the sea or in chlorine and since Forks is so rainy I doubt you'll even want to go swimming" she rushed out.

"Sure" I answered still looking out the window. The drive home was spent mostly in silence the radio playing in the background but quietly.

We pulled up to the house soon enough and got out, I walked round to open the boot but Alec stopped claiming something about being the man. I protested but was unable to do anything as Jane dragged me into the house and up to my room.

Once inside she literally threw me on the bed and ran downstairs shouting at me not to move. I happily obliged because I had just got my nails done Jane had also packed us some sandals to wear but my feet still ached from walking around so much.

I felt around in my pocket for my phone and decided that now I would read Jasper's messages. There were a lot of bags and it would take a while for Alec to bring them all up here. I called out to Jane telling her I was going to the bathroom, she agreed telling me to be quick and I locked myself in there, pulling down the toilet seat.

I started by opening the first message he had sent to me, the earliest one and read it then read it again.

_Bella, where are you? Call me, please._

After that I just read them one after the other all 80 of them.

_Bella why did you run? Come back_

_Bella what's going on with you?_

_Call me please._

_Bella, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry please_

_Come home Bella_

_Where you at my house?_

_Bella forgive me please._

_I'm sorry Bella_

_I MISS YOU!_

_Tell you're coming back to Forks_

_I can't imagine life without you_

And that was basically how the messages went except for one. This one made my heart skip a beat and my stomach fill with butterfly's but also pissed me off to no end.

_I love you Bella, come back to me safely_

He clearly wasn't in love with me because if he was he wouldn't have kissed Alice, he wouldn't have painted Alice unless he thought I was some slut who'd already popped her cherry because of that was the case then I wanted nothing to do with him.

I hadn't even noticed it but tears were streaming down my face. I stood up quickly and began dabbing at the tears; I then waited a bit for my eyes to fade back to white before going back into the bedroom.

Apparently during my absence Jane had taken it upon herself to arrange all my clothes and pick out what I was to wear including my underwear as it happened. She was pacing around the room furiously and the moment I walked in she pounced on me.

"I thought I told you to be quick Bella!" she screamed, I was about to answer when she continued. "It doesn't matter any way, your clothes have been picked out and it is now 5.30 as it happens. The bonfire is due to start at about 7-ish so we can arrive about 8 giving us a few hours to get ready. In that time you will eat, shower, brush your teeth and get dressed as well as the fact I will school you on flirting and female comebacks you will need to ward off arrogant jerks." That caught my attention.

"Female comebacks?" I asked.

"Yeah" she replied "You know if a guy says a pick up line that's just cheesy or if the guy thinks he's like God's gift to women or something saying it will probably knock him down a few pegs but I only know a few"

"Give me an example" I said.

"Okay, how about...err... oh got one!" she suddenly exclaimed. "So the guy goes 'I want to give myself to you' then you reply with 'Sorry I don't accept cheap gifts'" I laughed out loud. It was good.

"Another one!" I shouted.

"Okay...let's see the guy goes 'I'd go to the end of the world for you' then you reply 'But would you stay there'" Jane said.

"Jane as good as these are can you give me some that will be relevant to tonight?" I asked.

"Okay but try to pay attention, I'll write them down for you as well and you can memorise them, I'll also write down the two I've already said" she told me.

And that's what she did; they were pretty funny and had me laughing. I looked down at the list in my hand once again reading through them:

Female Comebacks

Man: Where have you been all my life?  
Woman: Hiding from you.

Man: Haven't I seen you someplace before?  
Woman: Yes, that's why I don't go there anymore.

Man: Is this seat empty?  
Woman: Yes and this one will be if you sit down.

Man: Your place or mine?  
Woman: Both. You go to yours, and I'll go to mine.

Man: So, what do you do for a living?  
Woman: I'm a female impersonator.

Man: Hey baby, what's your sign?  
Woman: Do not enter.

Man: How do you like your eggs in the morning?  
Woman: Unfertilized.

Man: Your body is like a temple.  
Woman: Sorry, there are no services today.

Man: I would go to the end of the world for you.  
Woman: But would you stay there?

Man: If I could see you naked, I'd die happy.  
Woman: If I saw you naked, I'd probably die laughing.

Man: If I could rearrange the alphabet I'd put u and I together  
Woman: Really, I'd put f and u together

Man: Your eyes they're amazing.  
Woman: Seeing your back would be pretty amazing.

Man: "I know how to please a woman."  
Woman: "Then please leave me alone."

Man: "I want to give myself to you."

Woman: "Sorry, I don't accept cheap gifts."

Man: "I'd go through anything for you."  
Woman: "Good! Let's start with your bank account."

Man: "So, wanna go back to my place?"  
Woman: "Well, I don't know. Will two people fit under a rock?"

Man: "I'd like to call you. What's your number?"  
Woman: "It's in the phone book."

Man: "But I don't know your name."  
Woman: "That's in the phone book too."

Man: "Hey, come on, we're both here at this bar for the same reason"  
Woman: "Yeah! Let's pick up some chicks!"

Man: "Haven't we met before?"  
Woman: "Perhaps. I'm the receptionist at the VD Clinic."

I was glad that she'd done this for me, she was looking out for me, it showed she cared. She was inside on the phone at the moment ordering pizza for dinner. Phil had surprised Renee by taking her on a romantic date at the park but I couldn't see how romantic it could be with a toddler there but oh well.

My phone began ringing in my hand, Rosalie flashing up on the screen. I immediately opened it up excited to hear from her.

"Bella!" she screamed in my ear.

"Nice to hear from you too Rose" I answered.

"Bella you were right, you were so right" she answered tearfully. I was immediately worried.

"Are you okay Rose? What's going on?" I asked frantically.

"Oh Bella, I'm better than okay. I'm on cloud fucking nine" she answered.

"Rose?" I asked.

"Bella, I think I'm in love. All those times when I've mocked people about this love at first sight shit and now it's happening to me" she said in reply.

"Really?" I asked as this was the last thing I expected to happen.

"Yeah, his name's Emmet. He's amazing" she whispered.

"How did you guys meet?" she asked.

"Well I had arrived in Tennessee, and had showered, napped and was strolling around after grabbing a bite to eat when all of a sudden I hear this scream of pain. I was looking around when all of a sudden I see this path and for some strange reason I run into the woods. I hide behind this tree and see this bear and it's giant and below him is this guy and he's wounded, like he's clutching his leg and there's blood _everywhere_ Bella, he's covered in it. I'm worried sick then I remember this thing saying you had to look bigger than the bear but you also had to make a lot of noise. So I grab my phone and searched for the loudest song I could find and played it. The bear stopped halfway to attacking him and ran off in the opposite direction." I breathed a sigh of relief at this news.

"I quickly rush off to help him and he's got these adorable dimples and this brown hair and he's just blown my breath away. So I help him limp somehow to the way I was before and manage to flag down some help. I stay with him in the hospital until some of his family comes and I see his mother and she looks just like him and she's crying and then when the doctor introduces me as the person who saved his life she grabs me and hugs me and cries and it's really awkward because I don't even remember the last time my mother hugged me" she finished sadly.

"Wow Rose, how is he?" I asked lamely, feeling useless.

"He's better, they've put him on crutches but he needs to remain in hospital for a few days so that he can recuperate.

"Have you guys spoken?" I asked.

"Well...kind of not really. He was kinda out of it when we spoke but that's due to the drugs. His mum has insisted that I stay with them for the duration of my holiday as she doesn't really want me staying by myself." Rose answered.

"That's good Rose. I'm happy for you really" I said.

"Enough about me though, how are you? How's Alec even better in the flesh right? Have you jumped his bones yet?" she asked.

"Rose!" I exclaimed embarrassed "I have done no such thing"

"Why not?" she asked sounding confused.

"He has a girlfriend" there was a moment of silence before a loud fuck reverberated in my ear.

"Oh Bella, I'm so sorry. When did he tell you?" she asked.

"He hasn't per se but I know" I answered.

"How do you know Bella?" she asked.

"Well I over heard him and Jane talking about it" I said.

"Did they say he had a girlfriend?" she asked.

"No but it was implied" I said lamely.

"Well Bella different people see things differently and what may seem like this to you may seem completely different to someone else like me" Rose said.

"But Rose-"

"No buts Bella, what are you doing tonight?" she asked.

"Bonfire down at the beach"

"Good, this is the perfect opportunity for you to woo him I hope you have some sexy stuff" she said.

"Yes I do now courtesy of Jane. She bought me a thong, a thong!"

"Bella you're not a child anymore and Alec is certainly no boy, this is your chance to get over Jasper"

"I read the text messages, he told me loved me and I should come home to him safely" I said sadly.

"Oh Bella, you love him and I think he loves you too" Rose said.

"No, he doesn't. If he loved me he wouldn't have hurt me, he would have kissed me not Alice, it would be me he had painted not Alice" I replied tearfully. "I don't love him Rose, I may be falling for him but I will fight against it. I have too"

She was silent for a few minutes and I heard someone speaking to her but the words were garbled.

"Bella?"

"Hmm?" I replied.

"I have to go, Emmet's awake and he's asking to see me" I could hear the happiness in her voice and didn't want to bring her down with my messed up love life and relationship with Jasper if you could even call it that.

"Ok Rose. Good luck"

"Thanks I'll need it. I'll call you back in a little while" she finished.

"Ok, bye for now"

"Bye and Bella don't forget what I said"

"I won't" and with that we ended the phone call.

I sat outside for a bit just thinking, Alec and Jane appreciated that I needed my space and the only time I was bothered was when Jane told me the pizza was to be here at about 6.30 and Alec when he brought me out some sun screen because of how easily I burnt.

My phone started ringing again and I answered it immediately as Rose said she'd call back I just expected her to take longer.

"Hello" I said into the phone.

"Bella?" the voice questioned. I froze, no it couldn't be but it was, I took the phone from my ear and looked at it seeing the name lit up in the screen.

"Don't hang up, please" the voice begged.

"Jasper?" I croaked.

"Yes Bella, it's me. Bella, I can't believe you picked up, just...Bella" he answered, his voice sounded different thick as though he'd just been crying.

"What...what do you want?" I asked my voice betraying me. I couldn't believe the effect his voice had on me, even over the phone.

"Bella, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Mum, mum she...she told me. You were there, that you had walked to the house in the rain and you had gone upstairs to get something to wear then you ran out the house. Bella I'm so sorry, if I had known...if only-" I cut him off.

"It wouldn't have changed anything Jasper" I whispered harshly.

"Bella...listen hear me out" he pleaded.

"No Jasper, you lied to me, to me your best friend, you ignored me for how long. What did you expect that you'll call me apologise and everything would be okay?" I screamed at him.

"I...I don't know what I was thinking Bella but all I know is I need you here, with me please. You're my best friend-" again I cut him off.

"Call me when you know the real meaning of those words" and I hung up with him. I sat there and starting crying, bawling my eyes out. My heart was hurting and I felt a hole in my chest where I was once whole. I stayed and cried until I felt warm arms wrapping around me and holding me tight. The smell of Alec invaded my senses and soothed me.

"Don't worry Bella, I'm here, I'm always here. I've been here" he whispered into my hair.

"Oh Alec" I sighed through the tears.

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm going to take you in now, so you can eat. Is that okay?" he asked. I nodded my head and felt as the ground disappeared from beneath my feet. I could feel the movement of Alec's chest as he breathed in and out and focused on that to slow my breathing.

He sat down on the couch inside and I stayed seated in his lap. He reached over and grabbed a slice of pizza and held it to my mouth for me to take a bite. The warmth of the pizza spread through me as I bit and swallowed. He kept his eyes on mine as he took a bite and then gave it to me to fight. It was almost like we kissed.

Jane sat down hesitantly next to me and I offered her a small smile to which she beamed at me. Rosalie texted me a few times, then we bid each other good night. We watched a few episodes of The Simpsons on television before Jane reluctantly dragged me out of Alec's arms and upstairs to get changed for the bonfire. Once locked securely in the room she pounced on me.

"Bella what was that thing you and Alec were doing?" she squealed.

"What thing?" I asked playing dumb.

"Eating the pizza, oh my gosh you two were so cute!" she screamed.

"It was nothing Jane...just nothing" I replied sadly.

"What happened?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" I answered.

"I mean earlier you were crying and I was going to see you but Alec said he'd look after you so I left" she answered.

"Jasper" I answered feeling that hole in my heart begin to open up again.

"What? Did he call you or something?" she asked frantically.

"Yeah, I thought it was Rosalie and just answered it then I heard Jasper" I paused feeling the tears well up in my eyes "I shouted at him and told me to call him back when he learnt the meaning of 'best friends'"

"Bella I'm so proud of you" she exclaimed hugging me. "Go brush your teeth and I'll have your clothes laid out for you for when you get back" I nodded my head and went to the bathroom to quickly brush my teeth and wash my face.

When I returned to the bedroom Jane handed me the blue bikini to wear, I put it on and she sat me down to apply some water proof make up. She gave my lips a sliver of lip gloss and handed me a pair of shorts to wear and we were ready to go.

"Wait Bella put this on" Jane said to me as we left the house. It was like a long top but it was made of sheer material and was blue in colour. The night was warm and so Alec lowered the roof on the convertible and drove us down to the beach.

By the time we got there it seemed like it was already in full swing, the bonfire was lit and music was pumping out the speakers loudly but you could still hear the chattering of people. Alec parked and opened the doors for Jane and I. They started walking but I hung back a bit, they both stopped when they noticed I wasn't with them.

"Bella it'll be okay, I promise" Jane said. They each grabbed one of my arms and began leading the way down to the beach.

They led me over to where some refreshments where set up and Alec got us both drinks. We hung around for a bit and people came and went around us, talking to Alec and Jane. We had been here for a little over an hour when I noticed that Jane had disappeared with her boyfriend Demetri.

I wondered around a little and found myself sitting on a rock down near the sea. A guy came up to me and sat down, tapping his fingers against his knees. I ignored him but he may it kind of hard to ignore his presence when he stood right in front of me.

"Hey baby are you from Tennessee 'cause you're the only ten I see" he started. I ignored him and took another sip of my drink. He looked at me again studying me more carefully.

"Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" he asked. I remembered the sheet of female comebacks and remembered that this was on it.

"Yes, that's why I don't go there anymore" I answered. He barked a laugh and sat down next to me.

"Where have you been all my life?" he asked again.

"Hiding from you" I replied.

"Seriously though" he began "Your place or mine?" he tried for the third time.

"Both, you go to yours, I'll go to mine" he stood up after that and walked away muttering some things I'd rather not repeat.

"There you are Bella" Alec began "I've been looking for you all night"

"Well I've been around" I answered suddenly shy.

"Seems you're quite popular with the males tonight" he said.

"It was just one guy" I said.

"Yeah, one guy who had enough courage to even speak to you, the rest just look on longingly" I shook my head disbelievingly and looked down into my empty cup. We sat there for a while in total silence for a bit.

"Bella" I looked up at him and noticed our faces were just inches apart, his eyes darkened and my gaze flickered down to his lips. I stared at them wanting, _needing_ his lips to touch mine even for just a second. He held my chin in his fingers and we brought our heads closer together. His lips brushed mine once, twice. It wasn't the same as it was with Jasper, not that tingling spark but this was good. He opened his eyes and stroked my cheek lovingly before leaning in once again...

"Bella?" a voice questioned. I turned around and was shocked at what I saw. The same sandy hair, the same eyes, the same voice.

"Travis?" I squeaked.


	20. Chapter 20

**So not much happening in this chapter for the most part but there will be a surprise that will keep you guessing for a while. What are your thoughts on Jasper though? Do you still think he's a jerk or are you remembering that sweet boy who had promised Bella he's never hurt her?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 20**

"Travis?" I squeaked.

No it couldn't be him but it was. He was there just a few feet away and here I was sitting vulnerable. I looked around frantically, there was a wood at the edge of the beach but down here by the rocks it was empty, it was also far from everyone else and if you went lower down, _anything _could happen. He could get me, he couldn't get me then so he's coming now.

I stayed where I was sitting, discarded my empty cup, closed my eyes and covered my ears in the belief that if you can't see them they can't see you.

"Bella? Bella!" the voice said. I squeezed my eyes closed tighter and curled into a ball. This couldn't be happening. I had literally the worst luck. I felt hands prying my hands away from my ears and opened my eyes in shock. Travis was right in front of me touching me. I let out an almighty scream and hightailed it away from him. Naturally I stumbled as I went but luckily didn't fall; I was getting a lot of practice running away from guys.

It wasn't long before I heard the sound of feet pounding after me and it wasn't much longer till I stacked it in the sand. Alec helped me stand and I stood behind him shaking from the fear. I could hear my breath speeding up and began feeling light headed. Alec stood in front of me protectively as Travis stopped in front of him.

"Bella I'm sorry" he said remorsefully. My head shot up at the apology as it wasn't what I had been expecting, he was _sorry. _What was it with guys and thinking that a simple apology would fix everything, I didn't know if Travis would have gone all the way but if I kept thinking about the what if's in life I'd never get anywhere. I mean everything was just getting to me and the situation with Jasper was pissing me off but Travis was here and I just wanted to take my anger out on him.

"Your sorry" I spat at him "How could you think saying sorry would make anything alright. Travis don't you understand what you did to me-"

"I know, I know, when I realised how wrong it was, it was too late"

"Years too late" I finished.

"Yeah, I'd gone round your house and your mum had said you'd moved in with your dad" he said looking down "I really am sorry Bella" I had to forgive him. I knew it and I knew some higher force was trying to give me this chance at closure, I mean I'm sure that it would have been worse if he had actually raped me but he didn't, not like Lily and at least he's apologising the guy who did it to her fled the country. She may never get the chance that was being given to me.

I looked at Alec and motioned for Travis to follow me, I mumbled to Alec that I'd be alright and walked out of hearing distance. He was still watching me and for that I was glad.

"Bella, honestly, I wouldn't have done that if I were in my right senses, I mean, I was going through a rough time what with me and my girlfriend breaking up and I had taken some Ecstasy about an hour before and had finished about 4 beers, I would not have done that to you, I still can't believe...you, you were just...you were just there and I guess I just wanted...I don't know what I wanted just you were there...I know it's no excuse but please...it's all I have please" he dropped to his knees in front of me and I saw the tears in his eyes and knew I had to forgive him. I just had to, he was honestly sorry and for all I know it could have been torturing him as badly as it tortured me.

"I...I forgive you Travis but please... stay away from me, I need space from you" I began. His head shot up and his eyes widened. "I need time, it's kinda hard you know, seeing you again and I just...I just can't, you hurt me badly, you took my trust and broke it. I was young, so young and I...I" His eyes saddened in despair "but I do forgive you" the smile he shot me was blinding and he stood up and stuck his hand out, I stuck my hand out as well and shook his one.

"I'll see you around Bella" he said, waving at me before running off in the direction of the bonfire. Suddenly the weight of the day hit me, the rollercoaster of emotions were too much and I buckled under it, giving in to the darkness.

xXx

When I finally awoke, it was morning and the sun was glaring painfully at me through my bedroom window, the bed was empty next to me except for the slight dent in the bed where she was. I sat up in bed and stretched before looking down and realising that my clothes had been changed.

I was now dressed in an oversized t-shirt and shorts; I was really hoping that it was Jane who changed me because it'd be mortifying if Alec saw me like that. I got out of bed, showered, brushed my teeth and began my day. As I walked downstairs I grabbed a lock of my hair and smelt it enjoying the mango scent.

Downstairs Jane and Alec sat on the sofa with Nessie, playing with her and Renee was in the kitchen on the phone. I collapsed on the couch next to Jane and she leant her head on my shoulder, I wasn't sure what we were watching but I watched it nonetheless.

"Oh, Bella honey when did you get down?" Renee asked clearly surprised to see me.

"Just a few minutes a go" I said in reply turning to face her.

"Ok, come and get some breakfast" she said.

"Um...no, I'm not really hungry" I replied nervously. She raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything in response just shaking her head disapprovingly.

"Bella, we wanted to go swimming later, wanna come?" Jane chirruped from next to me.

"Sure" I said, smiling.

Jane grabbed my arm and led me upstairs to the room again, this time she dressed me in the red and black bikini and wrapped a red sarong around my waist and gave me some flip flops to wear as well a baggy t-shirt on top. I was slightly disappointed as Alec hadn't spoken to me all morning but I summed it all up to be that:

He was embarrassed to talk about the kiss in front of his sister (unlikely)

He was slightly drunk and regretted it (possibly)

He was caught up in the moment

He had a girlfriend

D was probably the most likely. I couldn't believe that I had let him kiss me even though I knew he had a girlfriend unless he simply regretted it, I mean why wouldn't he? Jasper kissed me and moved onto Alice, I just wasn't worth it. I just wasn't worth anything. As we made our way out the room I stopped Jane on the landing.

"Hey Jane, what's up with Alec?" I asked.

"I don't know, he's been like that since morning for some reason, oh yeah before I forget someone sent you some flowers this morning" she paused for a minute hard in thought "They're beautiful you know, Freesia's. There's a note as well but it doesn't say who it's from"

"What does the note say?" I asked.

"I don't know, I didn't read it, it's in the kitchen on the counter" she answered.

"Oh, ok" I went downstairs to the kitchen and sure enough there was a vase of flowers on the kitchen counter. I walked up to them and inhaled them, I'd always loved freesias. I took the note and read it noticing that there were simply two words written on them, nothing else.

_I'm sorry_

I was shocked if nothing else, who was it from? Jasper? Travis? They were the only people I could think of who would want to apologise for something. I tucked the card into the tote bag I was holding and sniffed the flowers again before grabbing a hair band and putting my hair into a messy bun.

By this time Jane and Alec were ready and Alec was waiting for us in the car. Jane and I got in and we began driving to the beach. It was silent in the car and I couldn't help feeling like there was some tension between Alec and me, I stared gloomily at the back of Alec's head willing for him to turn around, to tell me that everything's alright. Jane had handed me some sun tan lotion factor 10 and I applied it to my skin hoping that I would finally tan.

My mind drifted back to Jasper and I wondered how he was, what he did once I hung up the phone on him. Did he go to Alice? Did he cry? So many questions, so little answers, kissing Alec was a different experience. His lips were warm like Jasper, but where Jaspers lips burnt mine in a fiery passion Alec's simply made butterflies in my stomach but those could have been from the nerves.

I missed Jasper, I wouldn't lie about that, I had feelings for him and I was certain that he had some for me maybe even a miniscule dot on his heart which was why he even attempted to get in contact with me.

I also wondered how Alice was, had she taken my place in the family, Jaspers number one girl, Charlotte's daughter I doubted that she had met Peter yet seeing as he wasn't in the country at the moment but maybe when he met her she'd charm him like she charmed Jasper. My heart caught in my throat and I closed my eyes to will the tears away and was just glad that I was wearing dark sun glasses so Alec and Jane couldn't see what I was going through.

Did Charlotte know about Alice? How could she not, he was probably bringing her round all those days he ignored me but what if he didn't, what if Charlotte didn't know and it was just as much of a surprise to her as it was to me, that's if she does know. Maybe Jasper didn't tell her what I saw.

It was odd, I felt like Jasper had cheated on me when he had the right to do whatever he wanted with Alice. The feeling of worthlessness and rejection began creeping up, consuming me and soon enough my vision was filled with sadness. I felt as though I were encased in a prison of my own making whereas on the outside I looked relatively fine.

I couldn't believe what I was doing, did I really think a makeover, some new clothes and a haircut would change me? Underneath it all I was just Bella...plain Bella. It was as though I were a Barbie, you could change her clothes and even her hair but her face never changed, her expression never faltered except rather than having a smile like she did, I had nothing...except tears.

We pulled up to the beach and I jumped out the car before Alec could open the doors, my plan was to get into the water, find somewhere private and cry, just to try and release the feelings within me but Jane grabbed my arm and led me to a spot on the beach, I still had my sunglasses on so luckily she couldn't see me eyes, Jasper had always told me that my eyes were so open and every one of my feelings were reflected in them.

When we go to the spot we spread our towels and put our stuff down, Jane had told Demetri she was going to meet him here, so she was going to wait. I on the other hand immediately began heading to the beach remembering the slight indent in the rocks underneath me that looked slightly like a cave. I didn't know where Alec was and frankly I didn't care because...because he probably wouldn't have wanted me hanging around him when his girlfriend to pop up at any moment.

I got to the rocks and was happy to know they were as empty as they were yesterday, I was slightly afraid some guy would see me but I doubted it plus it was broad day light. I sat on the bank and dipped my feet in the water enjoying the slight chill before I got used to it.

Sometimes, sometimes in my darkest hours I had wondered what it would be like to just end it all, it was mainly after the incident with Travis, I was full of a blank emptiness and I just wanted to feel but I couldn't and I didn't know why. I was like a living zombie and I felt like a drain on Renee and Phil's resources.

I had attempted once but quit halfway because I didn't want to die, I just wanted to feel which led to the first and only time I'd ever self harmed. I shook my head out of those thoughts and stared at the water in front of me, it glistened beautifully and the sun beamed down heavily on me. I smiled as I felt the warmth spreading through my body and remembered something my Grandma had told me years ago 'The only time a woman should have a man, is when she doesn't need one' I had nodded my head, confused as to why she was saying that but as I thought about it now she was wrong.

I couldn't be without Jasper, I needed him to be able to survive, I needed him to go on. I couldn't imagine life without him.

My mind flashed back to one time when we were little I had fallen over and Jasper was looking after me he had promised to be my knight in shining armour, he had sworn to protect me but he broke it. He couldn't protect me from the one person I needed to be protected from...

_Him_

xXx

I went into the sea for a bit and swam around, I enjoyed my new hair and felt it swirl around my shoulders. I bobbed gently in the water until I heard the sound of water splashing slightly, I turned around shocked as no one had actually come down here but was even more shocked as I watched Alec make his way towards me.

I didn't no what to do and stood their silently, waiting for him to make the first move, my heart thundered in my chest and I was inhaling air at a fast rate. He stopped just in front of me and brushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear and as much as I would have liked to kiss him, their was this wave of tension between us.

He leaned down making to kiss me but I backed away, leaving him shocked. He shot me a confused look and inched closer to me. I stared up at him stonily, my gaze unwavering as he wondered what was wrong.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. His eyebrows shot up amusedly and he placed his hand on my cheek.

"I knew I'd find you here Isabella" his use of my full name made me shiver but I refused to back down.

"Yeah, well, why were you even looking for me when all day you've ignored me and been down right rude" I snarled.

"Bella" he whispered closing his eyes, his breath wafted over me and I closed my eyes as well "I'm sorry, it's not your fault and it was downright rude, please forgive me" he asked. I opened my eyes and saw him watching me a pleading look on his face, his eyes were sparkling with so much emotion.

I burst out laughing.

He looked at me bewildered and slightly hurt, it wasn't his fault and I tried my best to explain it to him, in the last 24 hours he was the third guy to apologise to me for something. He eventually understood and joined in and just like that the tension disappeared.

"Yeah" he said after we'd calmed down a little and were sitting on the bank "I can see why you'd find that funny" I smiled in response. We talked for a while longer and eventually I found myself sitting in his lap with my head on his shoulder, his hand was rubbing small circles into my hand and occasionally I could feel his lips press into my head.

We stayed out there for most of the day but eventually Alec's stomach rumbled and we decided to go home. Jane was going to Demetri's house and was staying there for dinner, so the ride home was going to be just us.

_Great!_

All through the afternoon the urge to kiss Alec had built and I knew he could feel it to, he kept glancing down at my lips, touching my arm and lingering a bit too long. I bit my lip at the idea of a car ride back.

"Bella, do you want to stop fro some ice cream on the way?" he asked nervously. I nodded my head excitedly but replied yes when I remembered that he wouldn't be able to see me.

"Good, because I know this place and the have the best ice creams ever" he veered off to the right and we drove a bit longer until we got a building that on the outside looked small but was relatively large.

We walked in and he placed his hand on the small of my back to lead me in, I smiled happily even though it was probably nothing more than a friendly gesture. We walked in and too one of the tables and picked up the menu to browse the dessert section.

"So Bella, what would you like?" Alec asked, I swept my eyes over the menu briefly before closing it and pushing it towards him.

"What would you recommend?" I asked in reply. He smiled and ducked his head shyly.

"They have the best ice cream sundae's, they come in these bowls and the ice cream is like an orgasm in your mouth" I blushed when he said that, painfully. I had never had an orgasm before so I didn't know what it felt like but I had heard people talking about. It was like this sacred thing that everyone strived to reach but apparently only lasted a few minutes. It was a shame as pigs orgasms lasted half an hour. Jane practically worshipped them.

Alec's eyes widened as he realised what he had said "Shit, Bella, I didn't mean...fuck...I mean...arrgh...I don't even know what I mean it's just that the ice cream is so amazing and it was the only thing I could thing to compare it to, I'm sorry" he finished lamely. I smiled and reached over to grab his hand giving it a quick squeeze before placing it back in my lap.

"What flavour would you like?" he asked.

"Umm...what would you like?" I asked.

"Bella...seriously what would you like?" he asked again. I picked up the menu and began looking at the menu again, there were lot's of tasty flavours but eventually I decided on one.

"How about a combo of chocolate chip and white chocolate chip and whatever you want?" I asked hesitantly. He grinned widely and placed his hand on mine.

Alec called the waitress over telling her we were ready to order, he didn't tell me what flavour he wanted but I found out as he had to read it twice because the waitress was ogling his body so much. It annoyed me so much because it was as though I weren't even here or that she had decided I wasn't even competition.

"Excuse me miss" he repeated for the third time "Can we have a combo of chocolate chip, white chocolate chip and brownie's" he said politely. She smiled seductively at him and I felt my self esteem lower.

"Is there _anything_ else I can get for you, _anything _at all?" she asked, the true meaning of her words shining through.

"Not for me" he said oblivious or just ignoring her "Bella?" he asked and I shook my head. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and crossed her arms underneath her chest to enhance her cleavage through the ridiculously low cut t shirt she was wearing.

"Okay, I'll be back in a moment with your order" she winked at him and walked away swaying her hips a bit more to get his attention.

"Are you alright?" he asked me.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I asked surprised.

"Well, your hands are fisted really tightly together and I'm worried there cutting off your blood supply" he smirked at the end.

"Oh" I released my hands from the tight fists they were and placed them on my lap rubbing my thighs.

We idly talked for a bit more and the waitress brought us our ice cream, we ate speaking about things in general, not delving into anything too deep and soon enough Alec was paying and we were in the car on our way home. The drive back was mostly in silence but a comfortable silence, the radio played idly in the background.

When we got in I went to my room to get ready as did he, Phil and Renee had gone out with Nessie and wouldn't be back until late meaning that we were home...alone..._together. _I went downstairs searching for something to make but Alec came down later informing me that he was just going to order pizza, I smiled knowing it was because he was a useless chef.

Eventually we had a movie playing in the background and were sitting on the couch eating peacefully occasionally speaking and I was enjoying myself, really enjoying myself. He leaned over suddenly and brushed a stray hair from my face.

"So beautiful" he whispered closing his eyes.

My eyes fluttered shut and waited to feel his lips pressing against mine, I didn't have to wait too long. His lips crashed into mine with a force so hard we fell backwards. He hovered above me and caught my lips in a softer kiss, his tongue began prodding at my lower lip requesting entrance that I was more than happy to give. His tongue met mine and it was a weird sensation, I fisted my hands in his hair and pulled him to me more fully.

His hand had inched lower and was resting on my hip, his thumb rubbing small circles on the skin underneath it, I felt a dull ache begin building and a strange emptiness filled me. His hand moved further up and before I knew it his whole hand was underneath my shirt, but I didn't feel scared, I felt safe. The sparks still weren't there but this...this was nice too.

Alec made me feel beautiful, like I was worthy to stand next to him, I never felt as bad as I did when I was with Jasper, my heart thudded at the thought of him. My phone began buzzing on the table and sadly Alec pulled away, I answered my phone ready to have a go at the person on the line when I heard the voice whisper my name down the line.

"Bella" the voice sighed again, the voice, his voice was full of so many emotion, regret, sadness and hope and just like that I felt myself falling even harder than before.

**Okay, I know crappy ending but, whatever, who do you think sent Bella those flowers and who do you think is on the phone although it is pretty obvious. Next chapter we're going to skip ahead a bit as I know you guys are eager to get back to Forks to see what is going on. R&R.**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 21**

I stumbled down the stairs into the living room where everyone was situated, everyone except Phil that is who had to go practice that morning and would be gone for most of the day apparently some scouts were coming to his next game and he needed to try and be as good as possible because they could help him get into the major leagues.

They had solemn expressions on their faces and I knew it was my fault, I would be flying back to Forks in a few days and I was honestly dreading it. I also wasn't ready to go yet, there was still a mystery I was working hard to try and solve. The person who was sending me flowers, I had thought it was Travis or Jasper, so I confronted Travis and when I spoke to Jasper a couple of weeks ago he made no indication that he knew about the flowers.

I couldn't possibly think who would be sending them to me; it was three weeks ago when I got the first one and since then I had received another five. It was odd the messages on them made no sense except the first one: _I'm sorry._

On my way to the living room I had peered into the kitchen and saw the sixth one with another message on it. I was worried, Jane was too but Alec was pissed and/or jealous, I had finally broken down and asked Jane about whether he actually had a girlfriend and was relieved to find I had not indeed been the other woman and that he did not have a girlfriend. I didn't know exactly what we were as he'd never come straight out and classed us as something but he takes me out on dates but he doesn't actually say it's a date. It's so confusing and I decided if he doesn't come straight out and ask me to be his girlfriend then when I got back to Forks, I'd move on because I was tired of being pushed around by guys.

The notes where also very strange a couple of days after the first one arrived the second one was there. They usually had four words on them except for today's one which only had three and so far all of them have been linked to forgiveness, receiving something and beauty it seemed although it was extremely odd as the only person who would really be looking for my forgiveness is Travis and I've already given it.

I had collected the notes and was looking over them everyday to se if there were any clues but nothing stood out to me, it was also really weird because for each word they used a capital letter and they were all spaced out, the first letter of each word was highlighted in blue whereas the rest of the word was in red, I tried making words out of the letters on each note but none of them made sense. What was really odd about them was the fact that the person never actually used the word forgiveness in the note or beauty but they used other words.

The second note had the words Shamefaced, Bewitching, For and Atonement

The third had the words Opprobrious, Enchanting, Receive and Leniency

The fourth had the words Remission, Lovely, Obtain and Indulgence

The fifth had the words Remorseful, Lustrous, Minus and Compassion

Today's one had Yield, Admirable and Excuse

The morning was a lazy one everyone was quiet and I couldn't stop this feeling of doom from hanging over me like a black cloud and it was making me downright miserable. I was really desperate for something to do seeing as Alec had gone out with friend and Renee had gone out with Nessie.

"Jane, do you want to give me a makeover or something, please? I'm desperate" I added when she shot me a shocked glance.

"I've got a better idea" she said slyly smiling at me "Do you remember when you first came and I asked you if you wanted to do something to, like, mark it or something?" she asked me. I nodded my head in confirmation and she continued "Well, how about today we go to the piercing and tattoo parlour and go and get something done?" she asked.

I contemplated this, biting my lip and wondered what Jasper would say if I came back with a tattoo or a piercing before shaking my head to rid myself of those thoughts, it was horrible how much power he still had over me.

"Ok" I responded nervously.

"Great" Jane squealed. "How about we do something matching like matching tattoos or matching piercings? What d'ya say?" she asked.

"Sure" I smiled getting into the idea. We went upstairs where Jane had me change into shorts and a tank and after a quick fight I managed to get her to let me wear my converse. Jane spent the whole drive to the parlour glaring at them periodically.

We arrived there soon enough and whilst Jane drove all I could think about was whether I should get my belly button pierced or a tattoo. I heard that there were tattoos that you can get where they last for a year or more but eventually faded, I preferred the idea of that than to an actual permanent one plus if I changed my mind I'd know that I wouldn't have to get it removed by a laser.

We parked and walked round and through the doorway of the parlour, a small fan was blowing in the corner of the room and the radio played in the background. A man with tattoos covering his arm and a few piercings came up to us.

"Good afternoon ladies. My name is Mark, what can I do for you today?" he asked smiling pleasantly. Despite his hard demeanour he seemed like quite a nice person.

"Hi, I'm Jane and this is Bella, we wanted to do something to mark her stay today, something memorable that we can get done together. Any ideas?" she inquired tilting her head to the side.

"That's nice, let's see, girls usually tend to get either matching tattoos or belly button piercings" he answered. Jane nodded her head contemplating.

"Do you have any of those temporary tattoos where the ink only lasts a year or so?" I asked nervously. He grinned at me revealing sparkling white teeth and I couldn't help but smile back at him.

"As a matter of fact we do, so what were you girls thinking of having?" he asked. Jane looked at me surprised before answering him.

"Umm...what about belly button piercings then we can get the tattoo" Jane said although it sounded as she were asking.

"Yeah, sure" I answered. She smiled back at me and the man led us to an inner room, he began setting up equipment and handed us a price guide.

"Individually it would be $35 a piece but since both of you are getting them done then I'll only charge you $50 in total." Jane pulled out her purse and handed him the money before I could stop her.

He pulled on some gloves and looked at us glancing between us to see who would go first. Bravely Jane stepped forward and sat down where he pointed her too. She lay back slightly and lifted her shirt, then we wiped something on and around her belly button before he began talking to her softly telling her when he'd pierce it.

"Okay, ready, now" and I saw his hand as it went down, Jane's hand balled into a fist quickly before she released it and stood up.

"Your turn Bella" she said to me. I stepped forward nervously and sat where Jane had previously occupied. "I'll be right here holding your hand, it hardly hurts okay?" she said. I nodded my head in response, but I knew I was tensing.

"You need to relax" Mark said to me. "Or else it will hurt a great deal" I nodded my head and began breathing in and out slowly and evenly. Jane squeezed my hand comfortingly.

"Ready" Mark said to me. I nodded my head, words seemed to have failed me. "Okay I'm just going to rub around your belly button with antiseptic wipes, lean back a little, yes like that, okay, ready, set" I closed my eyes in preparation of the pain I knew would feel me. "Now" and he squeezed the tool and pierced my stomach. I gasped in response to the pain and felt my eyes welling up with tears but Jane was right it was quick and soon enough I was standing up next to her.

"Right, belly buttons are easily infected so stay away from chlorine and things like that. Clean your belly button twice a day in the morning or night or whatever with boiling salt water, if you can get sea salt even better. After 3 weeks you can stop cleaning it if you wanted to but I generally advise you do keep cleaning it. You are also supposed to keep it in for 3 months but keep it in for longer as there is _no_ guarantee that it will be completely healed. That's all I guess" Mark finished with a final nod of his head.

"Okay, thank you" Jane beamed at him.

"Thank you" I whispered shyly as well.

"Your welcome ladies, now about those tattoos, have you got any idea what you would like to get?" he asked, cleaning and sterilizing the equipment.

"Not at the moment" Jane answered glancing at me.

"Okay, take a seat out there, where my colleague John is finishing up some tattoos and he'll take care of you, okay" he said pointing us in the right direction.

We sat down and watched as people had tattoos done, it looked painful, some people had their eyes screwed up tightly and were holding the hand of someone, one girl had tears streaming down her face and her mascara had run because of it. It was really putting me off getting the tattoo. We flipped through some books but couldn't seem to find something that really meant something. John soon came over and I glanced up noticing that almost an hour had passed that we sat there.

"Afternoon ladies, what would you like done today?" he asked pleasantly enough, like Mark he was also covered in tattoos. I bit my lip and glanced at Jane.

"We're honestly not sure at the moment" Jane answered.

"Well that's alright, there's no pressure for you to get one done today, you could always come back some other time" he suggested.

"Yeah, thanks. See you in a couple of days John" Jane said.

"Bye" I said as well.

We walked out the store and to the car, my belly button was quite sore and I had to lift my tank up above it so that it didn't press against it, it seemed as though Jane had the same idea considering that she had tied hers into a knot in the front.

We began the drive home in silence, I was planning on surprising Charlie with my trip home and I wanted to make him a really good meal because who knew what he had been eating since I left, I mean Charlotte must have been taking good care of him but still.

_Charlotte..._

I still felt extremely guilty when I thought about her, I mean it wasn't her fault that her son decided to kiss Alice whilst I was up there, she may not have even realised he had come home and she was only trying to be nice to me and then I had to get all crazy on her and run into the rain. I'm surprised that I didn't end up with pneumonia the amount of time that I spent in the rain that day, it was nuts.

I'd make it up to her though, one way or another but I needed to focus on the presence and I'd deal with everything when I got back to Forks, I felt my mind start to wonder as I thought about everything that could happen. I could go back and maybe be on fast track and able to graduate earlier, with Jasper.

We got home soon enough and found the house was still empty Jane suggested going down to the beach but for some reason I felt extremely tired. She offered to stay with me but I could see how much she wanted to go and eventually she agreed and called Demetri to come pick her up. He was a nice guy and was extremely good for her. When he's with her she literally glows and I wished I could have that with Jasper but the chances of that happening were becoming slimmer and slimmer.

I walked up the stairs after saying goodbye to Jane and Demetri and opened my suitcase to continue packing, I'd left out some underwear and my toiletries of course, but within an hour I'd managed to finish the majority of my packing. I sat back exhausted and stared at the walls of my childhood home, in about 2-3 weeks, Renee, Phil and Nessie will be going back to Florida and their house there because Phil needed to play in one of the leagues. Alec and Jane will also be gone, as will Demetri.

It was sad to think of the house so empty without the sound of laughter echoing off the walls and for some strange reason I began to cry, I cried and cried and cried until I felt hollow and empty inside. I soon realised warm arms wrapping around me and lifting me up but by the end I was too far gone, the tears continued falling but gradually began to slow and clutched the shirt of the persons t-shirt and held it to me in a death grip, I felt as though my entire being would just fly away if I let go.

Eventually I could feel the feeling of sleeping eating away at me until it consumed me and I was drifting, floating off into unconsciousness, my last coherent thought being seven words.

_I wish it was Jasper holding me..._

**And that's a wrap, what do you think Bella should get for her tattoo tell me in your reviews or inbox me. Feedback is always appreciated and next chapter it's back to Forks so be prepared.**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter out on time for once, the next chapter will have a lot of drama especially on the Bella/Jasper front. Who do you think is sending Bella the flowers? A lot of people have already cracked it but you will find out at the end of this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 22**

"Bella, are you ready?" Jane asked me for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Yes, no, maybe...I just don't know" I sighed. She rubbed my arm soothingly. "I mean...I hate pain and needles and oh no...needles!" I shrieked. I could feel myself beginning to hyperventilate and the beginnings of a panic attack. I closed my eyes and put my hands together as though I were praying, then I crossed my ankle, it was a method I learnt once about panic attacks and it helped me to focus on my breathing and eventually slow it down.

"Bella, it'll be alright, I promise. You don't have to do it" she said.

I shook my head adamantly "I need to, don't worry, I'll be fine"

"If you're sure" she said doubtfully.

"Yeah" I replied. I tugged on her hand and we walked into the parlour, although we were supposed to come in yesterday due to the fact we hadn't decided on which tattoos we wanted, we didn't and so came in the day afterwards.

The parlour looked the same as it did two days ago; John was working on someone so we took a seat and began flipping through the magazines. My palms felt slippery and I kept shaking my legs from the nerves although I didn't realise until Jane had put a restraining hand on them. I rubbed my hands up and down the sides of my face and took even breaths in through my nose and released through my mouth.

Although I was feeling downright scared, there was this under current of excitement that I was doing something like this, something big and I was doing it without Jasper with me. It felt odd and I felt slightly guilty but at the same time proud that I could go on without him that I could still live my life without him being there every step of the way. He had Alice and I have...I had the pick of millions of guys. John soon finished up and was walking towards us with a smile on his face.

"Hello ladies, nice to see you again. How have you been?" he asked politely.

"We've been alright" Jane answered.

"So do you have an idea of what you want or did you bring in a picture or something?" he asked.

"Umm no" Jane began "but Bella's really good at art and she can draw them out, right?" she asked me.

"Yeah...umm" I hesitated "Do you have any paper and a pencil?" I asked John.

"Sure" he replied "Just give me a moment" he said before walking over to a door and going through it. He came out a while later clutching a notepad and a pencil case.

"Here you go, everything you need is in here, I'll be back in a little bit" he said before walking off to serve someone else.

"Okay Bella, do you want to draw mine first or yours?" Jane asked.

"Yours" I answered immediately.

"Okay basically I want a white dove with a clover in its mouth" I immediately got to work.

"Why a dove and clover? I mean I swear the dove is meant to have a leaf in its mouth" I asked.

"Well the dove is the universal symbol of peace and you know how I'm all about peace" she began "The clover means good luck and I want good luck plus the tattoo will eventually fade. Let me see" she said to me. I showed her the picture and she wrinkled her nose at it. "How about I just get a dove?" she asked me and I began drawing her new image. I added a bit of detail and added a J in the background.

"Oh Bella, it's gorgeous" she squealed. I'm going to go pay and everything and I'm going to get my tattoo done" she said to me taking off before I could protest and heading over to see John.

I began working on my drawing making sure everything was perfect; the colours had to be right as did the shape. It was slightly complicated but extremely meaningful; it was to show how I'd changed on this trip but also how I was still the same.

My fingers worked on drawing out the image in my mind as the needles worked the skin on Jane temporarily inking her skin, I felt very passionate about what I was drawing and in a way what I picked in the end was very ironic at least for me. I decided to get inked in two places for my individual tattoo; on my wrist I was going to have a white swan with a maple leaf in front of it. My second tattoo was going to be on my hip and it was going to be of a phoenix because I always admired it and not just because that's where I grew up. It was because though it may die in a painful burst of fire, it would be re born and it was what I hoped could happen to me. I could put behind all the crap that had surrounded me the last couple of weeks in Forks and return to it anew.

I smiled at the finished design of the phoenix, there was ash on the ground from where it had been burnt and there was some around the ash as though it had been lit on fire but the phoenix was designed to look as though it were flying out of it, wings spread wide, there was a rising sun in the background as well.

I was quite proud as I stared at the pieces of artwork in front of me when a horrible realization dawned on me, the whole reason I ended up in Phoenix to begin with was because Jasper drew a picture of Alice for our _art homework_. I couldn't believe I had forgotten this minor detail we would be starting school again in about 2 weeks or so and all I had were a few sketches of Jasper which I would not be using. I had to get new subject and fast. I glanced around the parlour as though the answer was highlighted in there for me but sadly it wasn't. I glanced at the clock and noticed we had been in the parlour for about an hour. Jane was silent as John tattooed her and I felt guilty for not comforting her in what was obviously a very painful moment, from what I remembered being told about tattoos they felt like needles scraping against your skin.

I got up from where I was sitting and walked over to her taking her hand in mine, she opened her eyes briefly looking at me and I saw the unshed tears in them. She squeezed my hand in silent affirmation before going back to where ever her mind was before. I was glad I could be there for her like she had been for me.

After what felt like forever I heard the finishing buzz of John's needle before he put it down and grabbed what looked like green soap and began washing Jane's tattoos as it seemed like she had indeed gotten two or it could have been one. It was un mistakenly Demetri's name outlined in black fancy writing on her hip but above that she had the dove but she had decided to forfeit the 'J'. The tattoo looked beautiful without it and it just looked perfect. After washing it he then proceeded to bandage it.

He began working on the matching tattoo we had decided to get back at home we had agreed to get a half heart each with the other persons name emblazed on it but when the two hearts came together they formed a whole one. Jane had already showed him the design which I had drawn at home. We were getting them on our wrists, Jane's was on her right wrist and mine was on my left.

"Right" he began clapping his hands together after removing the gloves "Here comes the important stuff. To care for your tattoo, you wash it in antibacterial soap at least 4 times a day and put A&D ointment on it after you wash it or whenever it starts feeling dry. The worst thing you can do is let a tattoo dry out when you first get it. If the scabs fall off too early, you can lose colour. After 3 to 5 days of A&D, you switch to a light, unscented lotion such as Lubriderm or Curel. Keep clothing from excessively rubbing on the tattoo while it heals."

He pauses taking a breath before continuing. "It takes between 2 and 6 weeks for a tattoo to heal completely. It goes through stages, such as scabbing, then peeling and itching, then being 'green', then finally healing. Scabbing does exactly what it sounds like - it scabs over and starts to heal. This can last from 3 days up to 2 weeks. Once the scabs all fall off, it starts to look really funky. It turns a milky white colour, and then peels like a sunburn. It's very important not to peel at the skin or else you will lose colour. It itches really bad during this phase and can last from 3 days up to 3 weeks, and then, after it peels, it will be 'green' meaning that the skin isn't quite healed yet and the tattoo still looks slightly raised and it's all shiny. This is the most popular time to photograph the tattoo because it looks so bright and vivid. Eventually, over the course of a few weeks, the shiny look will go away and the tattoo will not be raised anymore. This means your tattoo is done healing, any question?" he asked us to which we replied with shaking our heads.

"Your turn right? Do you have your finished design?" he asked me. I nodded handing him the piece of paper. "Very detailed indeed" he commented appraisingly. "Now where would you like them?" he asked.

"Well the swan, do you think I could have it on my wrist?" I asked nervously.

"Let me see, hold out your wrist" I placed it in his upturned palm "Hmm...maybe...it would be a slight squeeze and will be kinda small" he said.

"How small?" I asked.

"Here...do you mind if I draw the outline on your wrist to show you?" he asked in return. I nodded my head and he went over to wear I had left the pencil case, got out a pen and strode back over. He held my wrist against and I felt the cool tip of the pen on my skin first before it eventually warmed, the drawing he was doing on it tickled and I had to hold back the impulse to pull my arm away.

"There you go" he released my wrist with a satisfied smile. I looked down at the design, though basic, was still beautiful and I smiled, the size was perfect and I couldn't imagine what it's be like once done properly.

"It's perfect" I whispered.

"Here's some wipes to clean off that ink. Okay are you ready to start?" he asked busying himself with setting everything up. I saw him getting out little cups and filling them with ink and suddenly I was overcome with nerves.

"Yes" I choked out. Jane held my hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Okay what about you're other one, where do you want it done?" he asked.

"On my right hip" I answered.

"Okay, which wrist?" he asked.

"Right one" I said and he chuckled slightly.

"Okay sit down here" he instructed. "For formalities, I need to shave your wrist although I doubt there is any hair there." He did this as he said it and I felt the cool blade come down on my wrist.

"So now I'm going to outline the tattoo on your skin" he said "It will feel like a tiny cat's scratch, you ever had one?" he asked. I nodded my head "Well then it's like that, ready?" he asked again.

"Yes" I said.

"Okay" he replied. Then I felt the blade of the needle come down on my wrist, he was right it was like being scratched except it was continuous and didn't stop immediately like a scratch would. My wrist burned slightly and I could just imagine how red my skin was turning, for once not due to my embarrassment.

I tried to focus on something other than the tattoo I was getting and decided to just ask John some questions instead.

"So how does the ink work?" I asked him.

"Basically it's like getting a real tattoo except the ink doesn't permanently stain your skin cells, you know when people get air brush tattoos or even those ones you press on with water, they eventually fade away except with this kind of ink it lasts longer. Your friend said you guys only wanted ones that lasted a year, right?" he said pausing.

"Yeah" I answered.

"So basically the first couple of months it'll be there like a permanent tattoo but once you hit about the 10 month mark it will gradually begin to fade and although it is meant to last about a year it will finish fading after the year mark"

"If it's gradually fading will it be all blotchy and stuff like fading in some parts and not fading in others?" I asked him.

"No it fades out as one picture kinda like when you watch movies and a picture just fades out in a scene or at the end" he answered.

"Cool" I said. I saw him finish drawing on my wrist and begin getting another needle ready.

"Right I am going to start colouring everything in and all. This will hurt considerably more because you need to colour all over" he began "But don't worry, when it's finished it'll only really feel like a...a bad sun burn" he said reassuringly.

"Okay" I whispered. Jane held my other hand comfortingly, rubbing small circle into my palm with her thumb. I smiled at her efforts. I felt the needle come down onto my skin again and the colouring began.

It _fucking_ burned!

I had to resist the urge to pull my wrist away and run as far away as I could but I held fast. The tears built up in my eyes and clenched them closed in response. I distinctly hear someone speaking but after focusing for a few more moments I realised that Jane was...singing!

I couldn't pin point the lyrics at first until I realised they were from the song Don't Know Why by Norah Jones. I focused on how soothing her voice was and I had to struggle so that she wouldn't lull me to sleep.

I couldn't tell you how much had passed before the buzzing of the needle stopped and John stepped back to admire his work. He then got to work cleaning it with the green soap like he did to Jane and bandaging it up. It did hurt but not as badly as I thought it'd be and for that I was glad.

"All right, now ready to start on the other one?" he asked me.

"Yeah" I said in response.

"So are all the colours written out on the sheet?" he asked me.

"Yeah except can the sun have a bit of a glow, if you know what I mean" I said.

"Yeah, I get you. Okay now how big would you like the phoenix tattoo?" he asked me.

"Umm...about medium sized, like can the ash be just below my hip bone and the tale of the phoenix should begin on the hip bone"

"Sure let me draw it out in pen first" he said. "Pull down your jeans a bit and lie on your side" he said to me. I did as I was told but felt the pool of blood as rushed to my cheeks. I felt the cool tip of the pen once again as he swiftly outlined the tattoo. When he finished I glanced down and was once again happy with the size so he passed me a wipe and finished preparing everything. I felt the cool tip of the razor soon enough as he shaved the area and the heat in my cheeks intensified reminding me of the times I was clad only in a towel in front of Jasper. How it reminded me of those moments was beyond me but my mind somehow connected them.

He outlined the tattoo and once again it simply felt like a cats scratch but I knew better especially since there was so much more colour in this particular picture. He kept me at ease the whole way through, telling me exactly what he was doing and answering my questions about my tattoo.

"When was the first time you got a tattoo?" I asked him. He didn't hesitate as he answered.

"When I was 18, fresh out of high school, deeply in love I had her name tattooed on my arm along with a rose" he began "Over the years I got a few more, I have my daughter's names and their dates of birth as well as my son. I have one I got when me and Mark over there were drunk and decided to get one for shits sake and a couple of others."

"That's nice" I said. The rest of the conversation flowed easily with Jane chiming in as well and soon enough the phoenix was completed. He started on the heart afterwards but seeing as it was smaller than the phoenix and not as many colours it didn't take as long. We had been here for hours and I was feeling a bit hungry. John cleaned and bandaged the tattoo and Jane – who had long since changed into cotton shorts - handed me a pair to change into as well. At first I didn't get why she handed them to me but it became abundantly clear when I realised how painful it would be to walk around in denim jeans so I hurriedly changed in the toilets. John gave me the same speech he had given Jane earlier and eventually told me we were officially finished.

When I came out Jane was talking to Mark and John was cleaning up from my session, she waved me over when she caught sight of me and I could see she was smiling brightly.

"So what did you get in the end Bella?" Mark asked. I was a little surprised he remembered my name but answered nonetheless.

"I got a swan with a maple leaf on my right wrist, a phoenix on my right hip and the half heart" I answered, smiling at the feat I accomplished.

"Very significant things" he simply stated though it felt as though he meant something more. I knew exactly why I had picked the things I did but I didn't think anyone else would be aware. Some people would have assumed I got a swan because of my surname and a phoenix because this was where I had spent most of my childhood.

"It was nice meeting you again girls, you must come and stop by here when you're in town next" Mark said.

"Definitely" Jane replied beaming at him. I smiled and we bid him goodbye going to John.

"See ya John" Jane said happily.

"Goodbye Jane" he replied.

"Umm John...what were the name of those things you said we should use to help it heal?" I asked hesitantly.

"Here I'll write it down for you" he said quickly grabbing a sheet of paper and writing it down for me.

"Thank you" I whispered fervently.

"Your welcome, hope to see you guys again" he said.

"Yeah" we said our final good byes and Jane and I left the parlour, driving to a chemist on the way home to pick up the required things.

When we got out of the car, we walked to the house speaking happily, it was most likely going to be empty as Renee, Phil and Nessie were out of town for a game of his, but I couldn't stop this feeling of doom from falling over me. I got to the front door and pushed the key into the lock and turned it, the sound of the lock as it clicked reminded me of a horror movie because something bad always happens when you open the door.

I swung it open and walked in dread in the pit of my stomach, my feet felt like they were on automatic as they walked up the stairs to Alec's room, I briefly considered knocking on the door opting instead to swing it open.

_My breath caught in my throat_

In front of me from what I could see was blonde hair, very, very, very blonde hair straddling jean clad legs on a bed, her hair was long and flowed right down her back but on the ground I could see various pieces of clothing including her bra. There were also empty beer bottles and spirits spread out on the ground which led me to believe that they were indeed _very _drunk. A sob tore through me but I slammed a hand over my mouth before it could escape.

Alec, _Alec_ who I trusted beyond belief, _Alec_ who would take me out on dates, _Alec _who refused to acknowledge what we were was in front of me preparing to _fuck...make love..._to some other girl. An eerie feeling of déjà vu washed over me as I remembered the catalyst for me to come here. I heard the sound of a zipper and I backed out the room closing the door softly behind me, before running up the stairs to my one.

I collapsed on the bed but no tears fell, I simply felt nothing, just plain nothing, there wasn't this intense pain I felt when Jasper had kissed Alice when all I had seen them do was kiss. Alec had this girl literally down to her underwear and I couldn't even muster up a tear. What Alec and I had it was nice but I guess we both knew deep down it wasn't permanent, that it wasn't the real thing which was probably why he didn't want to commit. I guess I was slightly hurt that he didn't completely finish whatever it was we had first but I guess it was due to being drunk that he didn't think properly.

I was glad for once that these walls were sound proof and I wouldn't have to hear them going at it, I left my cotton shorts on but changed into a tank top as it was a lot looser than my original t-shirt. I looked around in my drawer and found my packet of Tylenol; I walked down to the kitchen pausing briefly at Alec's room to make myself a sandwich. Jane was on the phone and smiled at me before continuing her conversation. After eating I downed the Tylenol and went upstairs to take a nap.

I smiled as I began drifting off to sleep; I was going back to Forks the next day.

xXx

The next day I was awake bright and early, I showered, brushed my teeth and made sure all my things were packed. I then had a simple breakfast of toast and orange juice. Everyone accompanied me to the airport and we had a few tearful good byes. Alec and I had, had a quick conversation that morning, I told him what I saw, he said he was sorry and we agreed to part on good terms. Jane cried a lot and was already planning for the next time we all got together again. Phil and Nessie seemed to be the only people who didn't cry but I thought I caught him wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.

"Bella" Jane said to me as walked back to the toilets. "I helped you crack whose been sending you those flowers" she then handed me a note which I slipped into my pocket.

Rosalie called me as well and we talked about for a bit, she told me about how Emmet was now back at home and she also told me that she was going to spend the rest of her holiday in Tennessee. My flight was called and I went through to the right place and it wasn't long till I was boarding. I slept for the majority of the plane ride and when we arrived at Sea-Tac, I grabbed by baggage and walked out front to get a cab before changing my mind and deciding to take several buses home.

The closer I got to Forks, the more my nerves increased and I wanted to prolong it for as long as possible. There was a bus going through Forks but I got out a stop before opting to walk home. Everything seemed so different, I had honestly forgotten how green Forks was and was surprised at how I enjoyed the cool breeze in comparison to the heat of Phoenix but it was nice.

I turned onto my road and my heart was pounding mercilessly in my chest but as I walked onto my driveway I was relieved but slightly disappointed to see that the cruiser was missing. I got the key from under the eave and opened the door replacing it and going inside. The house was remarkably still clean, I grabbed my bags and lugged them with me going up the stairs twice so that I could put them in my room.

I got changed into some sweat pants and a tank top carefully removing my bandages to clean the tattoos, I slipped the note Jane had given me and put it in the pocket of my sweat pants before going downstairs to cook Charlie some dinner. I couldn't decide what to make and was leaning towards either a lasagne or Spaghetti Bolognese when the doorbell rang. I walked out of the kitchen and to the front door swinging it open.

The person on the other side had me stunned into silence, I pulled the note from my pocket and read the words that sent my world spinning upside down.

_Sorry Bella, From Alice_

**So what do you guys think, sorry if some parts don't make sense and for any grammar and spelling mistakes I may have made. I still do not have a beta. Feedback is always appreciated. Who do you think is at the door? R & R!**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey everyone, yes, yes I know, I'm as surprised as you that I'm updating so soon after the last chapter but thanks to the positive response I got from the last one I didn't want to keep you waiting long. Okay the mystery person is revealed and the song at the top show Bella's feelings for Jasper for this chapter and the next, let's see there will be conversations, tears and talks of llama's recreating with gorillas pretty normal stuff**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 23**

_**And as I watch you disappear into the ground**_

_**My one mistake was that I never let you down**_

_**So I'll waste my time, and I'll burn my mind**_

_**On miss nothing, miss everything**_

_**Miss everything**_

_**And as I watch you disappear into my head**_

_**Well, there's a man who's telling me I might be dead**_

_**So I'll waste my time, and I'll burn my mind**_

_**So I'll waste my time, and I'll burn my mind**_

_**On Miss Nothing, Miss Everything!**_

**Miss Nothing – The Pretty Reckless**

_Sorry Bella, From Alice_

I stared at the note disbelievingly, I couldn't see why she would be sorry, I mean it's not like Jasper and I were anything and whatever we were he should have ended it and not snuck around with Alice behind my back. The only thing she really had to apologise for was for being rude to me and hanging up, I bet it wasn't even her mum talking to her but Jasper. It hurt though because I thought we had the potential to be friends, really good friends and now we couldn't, not really, she was excited too, it would be nice to get some close girl friends but I just couldn't see that happening.

I held the note in a ball screwed up tightly in a ball, my fist hurt from doing so and in turn my tattoos hurt from the strain, I let go of the paper and watched as it floated to the ground. I couldn't bring myself to look at the person, instead I focused on breathing.

_In, out, in, out, in, out_

I didn't know why they were even here I mean, they had no real reason and no one even knew I was back in town, I didn't tell anyone, I didn't see anyone walking around or in cars either. I just couldn't face them at the moment, not now, later after I was rested and could bring up my defences so I wouldn't hurt anymore...well actually so I wouldn't hurt so badly.

I honestly wished I could just faint as that gave me a logical reason to not have to visit this situation for a while. I looked down at the pavement staring hard at the cracks; they were clearly waiting for me to make the first move which I found pretty damn stupid seeing as how they came here to seek me out.

My eyes narrowed into slits and I took a deep breath to clear my thoughts. I could just imagine what it would look like to other people to people standing here nervously; there was so much awkwardness and tension between us that you could slice it with a knife.

They were shuffling their foot nervously on the ground and the sound was slowly but surely driving me insane. The sound of the shoe scuffing the ground was irritating and was actually pissing me off. I clenched my fists shut and re opened it them, taking another deep breath and prepared myself as my gaze slowly raised, meeting their eyes.

His blue-green gaze burned me and this electrical charge started between us, there were bags underneath his eyes, purplish blue ones as though he had been punched, his hair was slightly shorter as well and it annoyed me that he'd cut it. I bit my lip nervously and opened the door wider, silently asking him to come in before walking into the living room opting to sit in an arm chair rather than the couch that I usually sat on.

He sat on the couch and stared mournfully at the empty seat next to me. I didn't know where to start this conversation so instead sat twiddling my thumbs.

"So...err hi" he started. My head shot up at the sound of his honey voice, I hadn't heard it in so long and it was like music to my ears.

"Hi" I whispered in return. I risked a peeked at him trough my eyelashes and saw him watching me intently. There was something on his neck that I couldn't see clearly but didn't want to look like I was staring so I dropped my gaze back to my hands.

"How was your...trip?" he asked me, there was something odd about his tone as he asked that question and it was also odd that he paused before saying trip.

"It was...good...err...interesting" I stuttered out.

"Oh, did you meet anyone?" he asked curiously. I shot my eyes to him quickly before a blush filled my cheek.

"Yeah...I...I kinda did" I answered pausing, it seemed like he wasn't asking what he really wanted to know.

"Any people in particular?" He asked his voice strained.

"I met this girl called Rose...well Rosalie and some tattoo artists as well as Jane's boy friend" I answered.

"Rosalie?" he asked shocked, staring at me eyes wide.

"Yeah, I met her at the airport, well not this airport, the plane had a delay so she was there too and she was really bitchy at first but she's really nice. At the moment she's in Tennessee and in love" I smiled happily remembering our phone call.

I was so lost in my musings that I didn't hear what he said next. I frowned looking at him as he looked clearly frustrated and I realised that he must have asked more than once.

"Yes?" I said politely.

"I said" he all but snarled "What is her surname?" I was taken aback by his tone of voice and crossed my arms defiantly.

"Why?" I asked like a petulant child.

"Because..." he said.

"Because what, if you want answers you better tell me why" I stated to him.

"Bella, why can't you just tell me, I mean how hard is it to just say a word" he complained.

"Well Jasper, if you can't tell me why, then I won't say" I said.

"Gosh, Bella why do you have to be so fucking complicated. What reason could you possibly have for keeping this from me" he shouted.

I stood up trying to get a height advantage. "Don't swear at me Jasper, don't you dare! I come back hoping to have a peaceful day and here you are _ruining_ it for me" I shouted at him.

He ran a hand through his hair, pulling at the ends and put his hands on his knees as though praying and put his head on them.

"Bella, Bella...I'm sorry really it's just...finding out her surname is really important to me, I can't tell you why, not yet but please believe me" he begged. I knew he was sincere but here he was asking me to tell him something when he was hiding Alice from me.

"Maybe" I whispered.

"Bella" The way he said my name sent shivers through me "Why did you go?" he asked. I stared at him incredulously; a red blush filled my cheeks, this time from un controllable anger.

"You...you just...you didn't just say that" I stammered sitting down.

"What. What did I do?" he asked and he actually had the nerve to sound confused.

"Jasper, I saw the picture, I saw you kiss Alice. Are you really going to sit here and deny it didn't happen?" I screamed. He just sat there looking at me mournfully.

"You...you betrayed me Jazz, you did. You hurt me, I thought...you don't even know how much I...I-"

"Bella" he cut in. "Listen to me I-"

"No, I spent days beating myself up over what you did, remember...remember that night when I hugged you, when I was around your house...if...if I wasn't there...then...who knows when the next time I would've seen you would have been because after that day you ignored me for a week a _whole _week. I called you...I really did"

"I know Bella, I know and I'm sorry, I am so sorry" he apologised profusely.

"Why...why did you do it? Why?" I whimpered. He stood up and pulled me down into his lap. He tucked my head under his chin and rubbed my back comfortingly.

"I don't know Bells...I thought...I don't know what I was thinking...I just didn't want to hurt you" he mumbled into my hair.

"How long Jazz, how long?" I asked.

"I started talking to her the day after we met her and we met up a couple of times and then I remembered the project and thought that she'd be perfect for portraying innocence" he answered.

"Why though, why her?" I whimpered.

"I don't know Bella, I just don't know, I feel...I don't know I just...I just..." he trailed off.

"You're a liar Jazz, since that day, since you started sneaking around with her behind my back, you were a liar and I hate liars" I cried standing up "You...until...until that day...I...you...were a liar and lies...they ruin everything...they just, I hate lies...I hate them so much" I shook my head.

"I know Bells, I know" he agreed standing up.

"You and...and Alice, how hard would it have been to just" I screamed at him. His face looked alarmed and a little surprised.

"What Bella we-" I cut him off though.

"What about us Jasper, you knew me years before her, who you've known like a month or something Jazz. Don't I mean anything to you? Don't I even make a blip on your radar?" I shouted.

"You do-"

"What happened to bros before hoes granted I'm not a guy but you get the point right?" I questioned.

"Yes I do-"

"Then why are you trying to hurt me, do you get this sick thrill from doing this?" I screamed at him.

"No Bella it's not that-"

"Then what is it?" I screamed.

"Well maybe if you shut up for a moment I could explain" he shouted at me. I stood there dumfounded as the shock finally began to wear off. _He shouted at me, he shouted at me!_

"Fuck you Jasper, fucking fuck, fuck, fuck, you. You can just do whatever the hell you want it makes no difference to me Jasper" I snarled "In fact instead of just Alice why don't you fuck your way through the school, I mean who knows what else you've been doing behind my back, I hear Lauren Mallory is single right now"

"No Bella, gosh why can't you just-"I shook my head empathetically.

"I thought you cared about me Jazz, I thought you trusted me for fucks sake you're my best friend but here you are running around behind my back doing...doing whatever." I shouted at him.

"Bella, I do care about you, I trust you as well. I don't know why I did what I did, it's just...I don't know I didn't want you to be angry at me" he replied.

"Yeah, so you sneaking around with Alice behind my back is better because of course if I found out I wouldn't be angry" I retorted sarcastically.

"I love you Bells, please believe me" he begged. I whipped around angrily and punched him in the face before running as fast as I dared up to my room.

I collapsed on my bed emotionally spent and emotionally drained; I went through so many emotions in the last hour alone that I have in the past week. I couldn't cry either, I just lay there and stared at the window...as rain started to fall.

_Great! _I thought sarcastically.

The sound of footsteps pounding up the stairs caught my attention and I prayed Charlie was home instead I felt the comforting smell of Jasper as he wrapped his arms around me as he lay down on the bed next to me.

As much as I hated it I turned around and snuggled into him, holding tightly onto his shirt, he smelt so nice, so...yummy. I buried myself in his arms and was happy to see that he held me tighter.

"Bella, what happened to your wrists?" he asked concerned. I remembered that he had absolutely no idea that I had tattooed myself. I smiled looking up at him when the thing on his neck caught my attention again. I couldn't fathom what it was as I was sure that I had punched him on the cheek, I looked closer and realised that it was a greeny yellow colour. It took me a while but I realised that it was a fading...hickey.

I pushed myself away from him glaring at the item in question or hickey in question. I did a quick calculation in my head. Hickeys can take up to two weeks to fade. I was gone for two weeks and 3 days meaning that while I was away a girl had _marked _him as hers and here he was telling me he loved me and that I was his best friend and that he missed me. I couldn't believe him!

"You son of a gun" I accused standing up from the bed. "Get out Jasper, get out right now, leave my house" I screamed.

"Bella, calm down" he said trying to reason.

"Calm down, calm down, don't tell me to calm the fuck down Jasper. What the hell is that on your neck?" he visibly paled. "That's what I thought, looks like you weren't being completely honest, leave and come back when you're the Jasper I used to know the Jasper who'd _never _lie to me or hide things from me"

He sighed dejectedly but left anyway, I heard the sound of the front door closing before I walked over to the window and watched as he drove away. I could just imagine this scene in a movie, My Immortal by Evanescence playing in the background, rain pouring heavily outside and a sad girl in the window. It was actually quite pitiful.

I sat down waiting for a bit before re tying my hair and going downstairs to try making dinner for Charlie again. I had got the pot out and had put the mince meat inside the microwave to begin defrosting when there was a knock on the door. I was glad I hadn't started the microwave but I cursed and went to open it praying that it wasn't Jasper on the other side.

_It wasn't_

Standing there in all her glory was Mrs Charlotte Whitlock. She was dressed simply in jeans and a gorgeous jumper her hands clutching an umbrella. Her hair was tied in a pony tail and all of a sudden all that guilt I felt came back tenfold.

"Oh Bella" she whispered before enveloping me in her arms. The tears started to fall and I let her soothe me as I sobbed my heart out. She smoothed my hair and hummed songs I couldn't understand, everything was so messed up and I was tired of having to constantly try to be in control of everything, I just wanted someone to sit me down and tell me what to do because all of my decisions always seem to have horrible consequences.

I wanted to learn the guitar – nearly raped.

I wanted to meet Alice – best friend sneaks around behind my back with her

I walked to his house in the rain – see him kissing Alice

I run away to Phoenix – leave Charlotte feeling guilt, bump into Travis and catch Alec with another girl

Make a surprise visit back to Forks – Jasper somehow knows and we argue then I discover his hickey.

So as you can see I haven't exactly got the best luck when it comes to making big decisions, the only good things about going to Phoenix was meeting Rosalie, the tattoos and a few other things. It was like a chain reaction full of a lot of what ifs.

If I had confronted Jasper about avoiding me, would he have told me the truth?

If I hadn't gone to Jasper's house, would he still be avoiding me and sneaking around with Alice?

If I had confronted Alec that night, would he have told me that girl meant nothing to him?

These were questions that I would never have answers to and I just wondered what path I would have gone down if I had changed my decisions.

Charlotte led me over to the couch and sat me down before going into the kitchen and coming back with a box of tissues. She waited patiently as I blew my nose and wiped my tears away. I was sure my face was a blotchy mess of red and I just wanted to hide.

"Oh, sweetie, what have they done to you, Jasper said you were home but I never knew you were so sad, if I'd known I would've come over quicker" she whispered cupping my cheek, she put her arm around my shoulder and pulled me to her before resuming stroking my hair and humming, she began speaking again when I was into the hiccupping stage.

"What happened sweet pea?" she asked me.

"Jasper" I croaked out.

"Bella, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, if I had known...if...if only, I didn't know he'd come home until he was running down the stairs with a girl right behind him. If I'd known, I wouldn't have let him go up there, you know that right, you know I love you so, so much Bella" she cried. I felt horrible all this time Charlotte had been beating herself up over everything when it wasn't her fault at all.

"It's not your fault, it's mine, I shouldn't have been snooping...it's just that...that painting I thought for sure that...that it'd be of mine...but it wasn't" I sniffed.

"I know baby, I know, I just wished he'd been honest with you. After you ran away at the airport when we got home, I sat him down and made him tell me everything that happened including why he was avoiding you" she said. I looked up shocked.

"What'd he say? Please tell me, please" I begged pathetically.

"It wasn't really anything Bella, just that he felt a connection with this girl – Alice – and he wanted to see where'd it go but that some girls felt threatened by the fact that his best friend was a girl and he didn't want it to happen this time, also he didn't want to make you feel like you were being replaced or that you were a third wheel or anything if he did get together with her then there was something about an art project and he used that to get close to her" she paused drawing breath as I stared wide eyed at her "That day when he brought her home it was to show her the finished project and he said he just had to kiss her, that she looked so perfect then all of a sudden he heard a thud – which I think is from where you fell – and me screaming. He said they ran down immediately because they were worried about me. After that he sat me down in the living room and I told him you were here and that you just ran away for some reason. He later told me it was probably because you saw them kiss and was shocked." She finished. I stared at my hands un moving, un blinking unable to comprehend what she was saying. Jasper had done all this so _Alice _wouldn't feel threatened by our friendship, so that _I _wouldn't get hurt or feel like a third wheel. If they ended up going out I'd be a third wheel any way. I just didn't understand his logic.

"He is truly sorry Bella and you should forgive him" Charlotte said. I snapped my eyes back to hers.

"I don't care Charlotte, he may be sorry but that doesn't excuse his actions. I am so, so sick of people thinking that a simple _I'm sorry _will make everything alright, it doesn't, it doesn't" I shrieked. Charlotte widened her eyes in alarm. "First Travis saying I'm sorry for basically attempting to rape me when I was a kid, then Alec apologising, then Jasper, then Alice, then Alec _again_ and now Jasper again! I'm so sick and tired of all of this."

"What do you mean Alice apologised?" Charlotte asked confused.

"Didn't she tell you, she was sending flowers to my mum's house in Phoenix with cryptic messages and when you put it all together it spelt 'Sorry Bella, From Alice' I mean really, the only thing she has to apologise for was being rude to me on the phone when I called because as much as I'd like to say she stole Jasper from me, he isn't really mine" I shouted.

"Bella, dear, come here" Charlotte said opening her arms to me "I don't mean you should forgive him now, take all the time you need, he hurt you and he needs to see that. Make him work for it he may be my son but your practically my daughter and it hurts me to see you cry" I looked up at her and there were tears in her eyes "He told me about the phone call thing as well, he told Alice that she could talk to you if she wanted but she chose to end the call instead"

"I hurt Charlotte" I mumbled into her arm.

"Where?" she asked.

"Everywhere, my heart, my head but especially my wrist and hip they burn" I answered. Charlotte pulled back immediately looking at me in concern before glancing down at my wrists.

"What happened Bella, where you in an accident? Is everyone alright? I'm sorry I didn't realise soon-"I cut her off.

"I wasn't in an accident" I started shyly "but what I'm about to tell you, you can't repeat to anyone but especially not to my dad" I warned

"Girls honour" she said crossing her heart.

"Isn't it meant to be scouts honour" I giggled.

"I was never a scout but I'll forever be a girl" she answered back a smile on her face.

"Okay, whilst I was in Phoenix, I wanted to do something memorable to mark how I was changed so I did two things" I started "The first thing was that Jane and I had our belly buttons pierced" I risked a glance at her "The second thing was that we got temporary tattoos" her eyes widened "These ones last about a year and they fade away so it was like you never got them in the first place, like henna" I finished."

"Wow" Charlotte started "That's amazing, can I see them?" she asked hesitantly.

"Of course" I answered happily carefully unwrapping the bandage around the swan tattoo and then the heart, she glanced at them enthralled, you could tell she was tempted to touch them but restr

"I've got another one on my hip" I said after re bandaging my other ones and un bandaging my hip.

"That's beautiful Bella, a phoenix right?" I nodded my head "The perfect sign of re birth, they're all perfect Bella honestly" she smiled at me.

"How are you Charlotte?" I asked realising ever since we got here it's been all about me.

"I'm fine Peter's away at the moment but his enlistment ends in about a month or so and he's not going to re enlist so that means he's going to get a normal job and finally put his degree from Harvard to good use" she sighed happily.

"Peter's a lawyer?" I asked surprised.

"Yes, I know he doesn't seem serious enough but you should see him in court, he's amazing honestly, you should see him in the courts, he's just so persuasive and charming and everything, it's one of the reasons I love him so much" she said adoringly. You could tell from just the tone of her voice how deep her feelings for him ran they're soul mates. I didn't really believe in all that true love crap or any of that love at first sight things but seeing couples like Charlotte and Peter or Esme and Carlisle made me want to believe as well as Rosalie, I mean I've known the girl for like two weeks and I know that whatever she feels for Emmet must be true. She deserved happiness.

"He's not the only one coming to Forks" she began again. "Edward's starting school here" I looked at her confused. "He's Jasper's cousin, Esme and Carlisle's son" I glanced at her shocked.

"I thought Esme couldn't have children?" I asked surprised.

"She can't now, but she had Edward before she was given that diagnosis"

"What's he like?" I asked intrigued.

"He's really talented and smart. He plays the piano amazingly but also the guitar. I'm not sure if he's picked any more up over the years. He can pick up languages quite easily which was good because he used to travel a lot when he was younger. He's tall, has Esme's hair but Carlisle's physique and you'll just have to find out the rest when you meet him" she said.

"How come he wasn't in Forks before?" I asked.

"It's a very long story Bella but also very confusing so I think he should be the one to share it with you, it wouldn't be right if I did" Charlotte said. "Any way he's _very _handsome" she said suggestively "He's also _very _single" she said winking.

"Charlotte" I said surprised "No, no, no, I am so not in the mood for boys right now, I still find it hard coping around Jasper let alone another one of him"

"Come on Bella, just give him a chance alright, you never know what may happen. I'm not telling you to start dressing up and going on dates with him but be friend him and if you like him and he asks you out, don't turn him down immediately, okay" she said.

"Okay" I sighed.

"Promise me" she said sticking out her pinkie.

"Promise" I said curling my pinkie around hers, she then leant forward and kissed mine and I smiled.

We spent most of the day talking and at about 5.30 pm Charlotte prepared to leave, I walked her to the door and she was about to go to her car when she turned around abruptly.

"Bella, you do know that Charlie went on a fishing trip? He won't be back for another day or so" Charlotte said. I was blown away by that, it was a good idea that I was distracted by people so many times or else that would have been a wasted effort.

"No, but thanks for telling me" I said. She smiled and turned to go to her car but spun around abruptly.

"You're always welcome at our house Bella, your room is ready and if you want I can wait while you pack and you can come back with me" she offered. I smiled but shook my head sadly.

"It's my first night home in weeks and I kinda miss my bed but thanks for the offer" I said.

"I know, it's just that I don't like the idea of you here all alone, I worry" she smiled.

"I'll be alright, honestly" I added at her disbelieving look.

"Okay, if you're sure, but keep your phone on and charged, I want you to call me if you get scared and I'll be down to pick you up no matter what time it is, alright?" she instructed. I nodded and smiled.

"Okay, goodbye sweetheart" she said hugging me.

"Bye Charlotte" I said hugging her back and then waving as she got into her car and it disappeared into the distance. I shut the door behind me and slumped against it, putting my head in my hands. I went into the kitchen and put on the kettle to clean my bellybutton but went upstairs to clean my tattoos whilst it boiled. It was going to be a lot of work keeping them clean but definitely worth it.

I had just finished cleaning my belly button when there was a knock on the door; I threw away the used water and frowned when I saw that the time was only 6.10 pm. I couldn't fathom who could be at the door this time as Charlie was out of town and I had only just come back today but I grabbed the rolling pin from the kitchen drawer and went to answer the door.

The person on the other side made me drop the rolling pin and my eyebrows shot up in surprise. Alice stood dressed nicely outside my front door, smiling nervously. I was shocked to see her, I mean she was one of the last people I thought would decide to come and see me, unless it was to threaten me to stay away.

"Hi" she said quietly.

"Hi" I replied equally quietly. After a few moments of awkward silence she spoke again.

"Can I come in, I think we need to talk and as nice as Forks is I think it's best if we were both sitting" she said attempting a very bad joke.

"Sure" I said leading her to the living room. It wasn't as elegantly decorated as her house but it was home. "Take a seat" she chose the arm chair I had chosen to sit on when Jasper came, so I sat on the couch waiting for her to speak.

"Did you get my flowers?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah" I replied "But what do you have to apologise for?" I asked

"A lot Bella, I don't know what Jasper told you when he came over today but I'm guessing not much because he was really frustrated when I saw him afterwards" I wrinkled my brow in confusion, did he run to her with him problems or had they simply met by coincidence? I sighed dejectedly.

"Okay" I whispered.

"First I'm sorry about not telling you up front about me and Jasper hanging out, you were nice enough to come meet me and everything and what I did was horrible. It wasn't fair that you were being left out of everything, I asked Jasper a couple of times but he never really gave me a straight answer then he asked to paint me for this art project or something and I was to portray innocence so I wore this white dress and he took me to this gorgeous place with lot's of lilacs and lily's and stuff and he told me to just act natural sit down and everything and we had to go back a couple of times. I'm sorry for being rude to you that day on the phone it's just I felt guilty for not saying anything to you and we were having such a good day and you were like water splashing me back to reality and I wasn't ready to leave this little bubble we were in" she paused and I took this chance to say something.

"Well I'm so, so sorry for bringing you back to reality Alice, honestly" I said sarcastically.

"Bella I really am sorry, if I wasn't do you think I would have gone to all the effort of finding out your mums address to send those flowers and do you think I would have gone to all that effort to find those words and make that secret message which I hope you figured out" she said back.

"Yeah I did, '_Sorry Bella, From Alice_' I said.

"I knew you were smart" she beamed.

"Yeah" I answered.

"Speaking of being smart are you doing that fast track thing that allows you to graduate earlier, I mean it'd be harder for us because we need to get extra credits but extra curricular activities should make up for that" she babbled.

"Um...yeah I wanted to but I don't know if they accepted me" I said nervously.

"Well they sent me my letter a couple of days ago so yours is probably already here" she said.

"Did you get accepted?" I asked praying that she said no but judging by the look on her face...

"Yes"... I was guessing she was and that meant I'd have to see her and Jasper together in the hall way and in class too, life sucked.

"That's nice" I answered forcing a smile onto my face.

"Imagine if you're accepted too which I know you will be, I mean Jasper is always saying that you're so smart and everything and you know what this means, it means that we can hang out in class and everything as well as at lunch, that'd be so great and with Edward here we'll be our own little group, that'll be so amazing" she exclaimed.

"You know Edward?" I asked surprised.

"Yeah, I met him when I went to dinner at Jasper's house, he's really nice you know, you'll like him" she winked suggestively.

"Not you too" I groaned.

"What d'ya mean?" Alice asked confused.

"It's just Charlotte was saying the same thing earlier, the chances of me liking him is probably quite likely but the chances of him liking me back is about likely as llamas having sex with gorillas" I answered.

"Well, great minds think alike, you'd make a really cute couple though Bella, his hair is very odd though, it looks like he's just had sex and is always messy like that. He said he can't tame it, it's also a very odd colour, kinda bronze, kinda copper coloured, like a penny" she said "And don't get me started on his eyes" she sighed. I nodded my head.

"Bella, I really do want us to be friends though, really, I wanted us to be friends from the moment I opened my front door and saw you, I really don't want this to get between us, so friends?" she asked sticking her hand out.

"Friends" I said shaking hers "but that doesn't mean I'm going to forget everything that happened" I went on.

"Oh Bella, I don't expect you to, but I'll make it up to you really" she beamed.

"Okay" I said.

"One more thing, me and Jasper don't go out, he said that you may have got that idea earlier and wanted to set you straight but that you wouldn't let him" she said. That confused me.

"But on his neck, that hickey..." I trailed off.

"Is from Edward, it was a dare I gave Edward and he carried it out on Jasper" she answered.

"Oh" I said feeling guilty about how I acted when I saw it.

"Yeah but that's all for today, I'll see you later Bella, you still have my number right" she said. I nodded in return.

"Then call me tomorrow and we can hang out if you're not busy" she said.

"That's sounds nice Alice" I said.

"Okay great, bye Bella" she said.

"Bye Alice"

"I'll see myself out" she said right before I heard the click of the door signalling that she'd left and soon enough I heard the sound of an engine starting and driving away.

Apart from the toast I'd eaten this morning I hadn't eaten at all but after this rollercoaster day, I just didn't feel hungry. I went to the kitchen and put away the ingredients that I'd brought out for the spaghetti. I then went upstairs feeling an over whelming urge to talk to Rosalie and sent her a text. It didn't take long for her to call me back.

"Hey" she said.

"Hey" I said.

"You're back in Forks right?" she asked.

"Yeah" I answered.

"What's up then?" she asked.

"Truthfully, I just have this need to talk to a comforting voice" I answered.

"Well I'm always here for you Bella" she said.

"Yeah" I paused "I spoke to Jasper earlier"

"What happened?" she asked concerned.

"We argued, I punched him and went to bed, he joined me in the bed, I saw a hickey on his neck and kicked him out, then I find out later via Alice that his cousin was the one to put the hickey on his neck" I said.

"Wow, you spoke to her too? What did she say? I swear if she did anything too you I would take her out, I would make her suffer so bad that she'd wished she'd never been born and if she runs, I'll hunt her down" Rosalie said. I smiled.

"Excellent reference to Miss Congeniality" I said.

"Same concept" and I could imagine her shrugging her shoulders at that. "But I really would Bella"

"I know but it was really odd with Jasper because you came up in the conversation I was like Rose well Rosalie and all of a sudden he's surprised and demanding I tell him your surname" I said still confused.

"Did you tell him?" she asked.

"No" I said shaking my head adamantly "I demanded that he tell me why but he refused"

"Good Bella you're learning, just because you love him doesn't mean you have to tell him everything he wants to hear" she said leaving me speechless.

"I don't love him Rose as a friend yeah but not anything more" I said.

"Sure" she said not believing me we'd had this conversation plenty of times that I'd decided to just ignore her when she said that.

"Anyway why do you think he reacted like that?" I asked her.

"I don't know" she replied in an eerie voice "I don't know maybe he's-" her voice cut off, in the background I could hear the sound of a man speaking to her but I couldn't make out the words.

"Bella, I need to go. Emmet's awake and wants to see me, I'm so happy" she beamed.

"Yeah but Rose what were you going to-" she cut me off.

"I'll call you tomorrow babes, really, I will and we'll unravel the mystery that is Jasper, okay" she said.

"Okay" I answered forlornly.

"Cheer up bub, bye for now, I love yooou" she sang.

"Love you too Rose, Bye" and I ended the call.

I really wanted to know what she was going to say, I know she had a cousin called jasper and maybe that's what she's thinking about but his cousin was called Lilly and Rose is Rosalie maybe Lilly was her nickname but it was an odd one to make out of Rosalie.

These confounding thoughts swam around my head until I decided to just wait for her to call me the next day. I went to the bathroom to shower and do my nightly routine before making sure the house was locked up and climbed into bed. I hugged my pillow to my chest and realised that it still smelt of Jasper.

I dreamed happy dreams that night, dreams I doubted would ever come true.

**Hope you enjoyed that chapter, do you think Rosalie and Jasper are related, I'd love to hear your thoughts on that, I have already started the next chapter so you won't have to wait so long. Don't forget to review they make me want to write faster!**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	24. Chapter 24

**Hey after this chapter we will be skipping to when they go back to school and then we will be skipping a few more months to the wonderful month of February. What important event happens in the month of February in accordance to this story? It has something to do with Jasper... But that's the last clue I'm giving you. FYI this chapter will be slightly short shorter and kinda boring but I need to work up to something that will be happening in future chapters, she also meets Edward.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 24**

I was currently sat in my room racking my brains out to think of an idea and a person I could use to portray that idea. There were lots of ideas I could portray hate, love and pain to name a few, I sketched out a few background ideas I could use but none of them seemed good enough. I was tempted to call Rose but I didn't want to disturb her time with Emmet plus she did say she'd be the one to call me.

I was surrounded by plenty of paper of ideas I'd deemed useless and I was quickly running out of ideas. I had distracted myself by cleaning my belly button and tattoos several times but the time it took to do them went by too quickly.

I was tempted to call Alice to hang out but I didn't want to show I'd forgiven her too quickly, after being around Jane for two weeks straight I'd forgotten how boring Forks could be, I sighed, I was actually looking forward to school. I rolled onto my stomach when a thought hit me.

I barrelled down the stairs falling only once and went to the mail that was on top of the table, I went though them quickly searching for the letter that could make or break my day. I found it quickly opening and scanning the contents for the one paragraph that was most important to me.

_It is decided that you will be allowed to fast track your way to Graduation, you should be aware that staff reserve the right to remove you from this program if at any time you have a GPA less than 3.0 or if you seem unable to gather enough credits to graduate. Due to the fact that you are graduating early you would have gathered less credits than the future Juniors therefore it is advised that you attend an extra curricular activity, if you would like you could meet with the school counsellor and discuss which activities would be best for you._

_If you have any further questions in regard to this letter you may contact me via school email or come find me in my office._

_Yours sincerely,_

_D. Brown_

_Deputy Head Teacher_

I squealed when I read it and hugged the letter to my chest before jumping up and down on the stop, I couldn't believe it, I had gotten it. I couldn't think what extra curricular activities that I could pick to do but I'd see what was on offer when I got back to school.

Then I realised, Alice was also accepted on it so I'd be in some classes with her, despite the fact that we had agreed to be friends, I still had a sore spot whenever I thought of her and Jasper together, it still hurt especially now that I knew the full story. She knew it was wrong but still went along with it so that they could stay in their little 'bubble'.

I ran to the kitchen and with one of the magnets stuck it to the fridge, then I looked around in the drawer for a highlighter and highlighted the last paragraph proudly. I put it back in the drawer and ran back up to my room to get dressed properly, I put on a long sleeved shirt to cover my bandages and put on a pair of skinny jeans with my converses. I grabbed a jacket, my sketch book and an umbrella just in case and set off on my trek, about halfway there I was struck with a sudden urge of déjà vu.

I finished the walk and got to their house in no time, I was relieved to see that Jasper's car wasn't in the driveway but if he wasn't here it meant he could be out with Alice somewhere and even though they may not have been going out that didn't mean that they wouldn't, it didn't mean that they didn't feel something for each other.

I knocked on the door and could hear the sound of Charlotte's feet as she rushed to open the door, it was clear that she was surprised to see me but smiled brightly and led me into the kitchen where she was baking.

"Cookie sweetheart?" she asked me holding out a plate.

"Thanks" I smiled taking one, I took a bite and it was divine as always.

"Milk?" she then asked already poised to get the glass out.

"No" I declined shaking my head.

"How are you Bella, since yesterday?" she asked.

"Fine, Alice came over to see me afterwards and we're, I don't know, friends" I answered.

"Really?" she asked her eyebrows shooting up.

"Yeah" I answered. "I got the fast track as well"

"Oh Bella, I'm so happy for you, I knew you would. Charlie will be so glad to hear that when he gets back" Charlotte exclaimed.

"I hope so" I said smiling.

"Jaspers out, if you're wondering, he's gone over to visit Edward and they'll be back in time for dinner" she said.

"Hmm" I said trying to look un affected.

"You should come" she said "to dinner" she said adding quickly. "You can finally meet Edward"

"I'm not sure, if he's anything like Jasper, I'd rather avoid that head ache" I sighed.

"Don't worry they're alike but completely different at the same time, you'll like him really" she persisted.

"Okay" I relented.

"So what brings you here Bella?" she asked.

"Well...I was stuck for inspiration for my art homework, I couldn't decide on something to represent and all morning I've basically been working on backgrounds I could use to represent different ones but none of them seem good enough, plus I need a person to draw and I haven't got anyone" I said putting my head on my palms.

"Okay, the first thing you do is make a list of all the things you could represent like emotions if you want and then work from there" Charlotte said.

I spent half an hour writing down as many as I could think of but my list was actually quite good:

Hate

Love

Pain

Jealousy

Lust

Heart break

Broken

Revenge

Corruption

Sin

Sadness

Guilt

They were actually quite powerful emotions to portray, for sin I could have the person surrounded by the seven deadly sins although it'd be quite a mature picture, for corruption I could have the person with their chest open and see it spilling with money and jewels and the person has no heart. If I were too do the opposite of Innocence I could do something that shows they've seen what life is like and have a sort of broken look in their eye. I could have her dressed in ripped clothing but dressed as like a prostitute or something on the corner of a road. For heart break I could have her heart on the ground shattered into lots of little pieces. If I did Revenge I would do something to do with fire, I don't know why but it seemed like a good idea.

The rest of the day was quite slow and slightly boring, I helped Charlotte do little chores around the house like laundry and things before helping her making the dinner. I was going to make lasagne whilst she baked an apple pie which was going to be eaten with either ice cream or custard. For the lasagne there was going to be mashed potatoes with mixed vegetables.

I went upstairs to exchange my long sleeved top for a tank and I put on one of Jasper's old flannel shirts leaving it un buttoned. I re tied my hair putting it into two pigtails. I then went downstairs to set the table whilst Charlotte finished up the food. Soon enough the sound of engines outside alerted me to the fact that they were home.

I quickly ran to the laundry to hide and heard Charlotte go out to see them, she told them usual stuff get cleaned up and everything before she told them that I was here as well. Something was odd, one voice higher than the rest when I realised Alice was there too.

I helped Charlotte bring the stuff onto the table and soon enough they were joining us, despite the fact that they were told before that I was here they still looked a little surprised at least Jasper and Alice, the mystery Edward guy I didn't look at.

Charlotte sat at the head of the table on her lefts sat Jasper and I was guessing Edward was sitting next to him putting him opposite me and Alice on my right. Like always we said grace and dug in, an awkward silence had descended over probably due to my presence at the table.

The silence that had descended over us was becoming un bearable when Alice I guess took it upon herself to break it.

"This is delicious lasagne Charlotte" Alice exclaimed.

"Yes it is, but it was Bella who made it" Charlotte said.

"Really, Bella" Alice said, I turned to look at her "You have to give me the recipe, my mum would love this"

"Oh, yeah sure" I answered. I looked up ahead of me and was struck dumb. The Edward guy was looking straight at me his emerald green eyes so intense I felt like they were looking at my soul. Alice was right he had really odd hair, it looked like he'd just had a quick romp in the cupboard but the oddness of his hair didn't stop there. It was a really odd colour like a penny, I couldn't decide if it was more copper or more bronze, I could see how he was related to Esme and Carlisle, he had her eyes and hair as well as this almost soft expression but he had Carlisle's lean body and probably his height.

A blush filled my cheek when I realised I was staring at him and I quickly diverted my attention to my food playing around with what little I had placed there. I was mainly eating the vegetables and was hoping to eat the apple pie soon.

Everyone finished eating and I helped Charlotte with the dishes, I then brought the apple pie to the table and she brought the ice cream and custard. We all dug in because frankly Charlotte was a master when it came to pastries, she brought the cake she had made to the table as well as the cookies and we ate happily. The conversation flowed quite easily but I didn't really speak unless spoken to directly as did Edward.

Speaking of Edward his voice was amazing, it was like velvet, that was the only way to describe it, it flowed like music and I wasn't surprised he could play the piano so well. The more I looked at him and thought about him the better my idea seemed to get. He was perfect and it would be a good opportunity to get back at Jasper for what he did.

Eventually all the kids retired to the living room whilst Charlotte went upstairs, we had spoken earlier and she'd talked me into staying the night, I don't how but she did.

"So Bella" Alice started "How was your trip to Phoenix? See anything interesting or any_one_" she said slyly.

"And by that you mean..."I trailed off.

"Boys Bella, boys, men, guys whatever give me all the dirty details of your holiday romance" Alice squealed bouncing up and down and holding my hands in hers. My eyes widened and my face flamed as I couldn't fathom how she'd known.

"Ooh now you have to tell me Bella, please, please, please, please, please, pleaseeeee" she begged.

"There's really not much to tell, we had lot's of fun and I came back here" I answered. I was vaguely aware that the boys had now stopped talking.

"What was he like? What was his name? How old is he? Does he drive? What's his hotness on a scale of 1-10?" she fired these questions at me in quick succession. The expression on Jasper's face was murderous and I decided to work this to my advantage.

"He was amazing Alice and I'm not just talking about his kissing, he was sweet, kind and caring. He looked after me so well whilst I was there, he's just...just wow. His name is Alec, he's 18, he does drive and he has a motorcycle and his hotness would have to be 8 or 9" I answered putting a dreamy look on my face. I sighed as if lost in memory and waited for Alice to speak.

"What happened then, are you doing a long distance relationship or what?" she asked completely enthralled.

"Well..." this is where I had to put my non existent acting skills into play and lie a little. "We realised it would be really hard to see each other what with me living in Forks and him in Florida, plus he's going to college soon and I didn't want to hold him back from all those college girls. Imagine if he's fallen for a girl and she likes him back but he can't do anything because he's with me and he doesn't think it's right to dump over the phone and everything so when will be the next time we see each other. Do you know what I mean?" I asked her.

"Oh Bella, I'm so, so sorry" Alice cried flinging her little arms around me. She may be small but she was strong.

"I'll be alright Alice, really plus there's other fish in the sea" after I said this I looked at Jasper then glanced at Edward to see he was also looking at me.

"So Bella, this _Alex _guy" Jasper sneered "Are you sure he didn't break up with you?" he asked trying to look innocent.

"Well how could he break up with me if we weren't technically in a relationship" I snapped back.

"It's possible Bella and you did look quite taken with him" Jasper said.

"He's a nice guy, better than some" I said back.

"Just because he seems nice doesn't necessarily mean his intentions are"

"What's that supposed to mean Jasper?" I asked.

"Well you're judge of who's nice or not isn't exactly up to par, let's look at Travis shall we" he answered.

"You had no right Jasper, no cried" I shouted.

"Do you know what you were so taken with a guy who was probably only in it to fool around with a little inexperienced 16 year old" Jasper shouted back.

"He's not like that" I screamed.

"How do you know he didn't set out to steal the virginity of an inexperienced virgin" he shouted. I flinched, it felt like he had just slapped me on the face.

In a deadly calm voice, calmer than I had thought I could be I said "How do you even know that I'm a virgin" this obviously shocked him.

"What do you mean Bella, your 16, your...your you are a virgin" he muttered.

"How do you know that Jasper? In all the time that we've known each other I have _never _said that I was a virgin" I went on. "You shouldn't just assume things" Jasper stormed out the room.

"Well this was interesting, I'm going to go see if he's alright" Alice said running off after him and upstairs where we heard a door slam leaving Edward and I alone in the living room, the perfect situation for my plan.

"So Edward..." I trailed off.

"So Bella..." he imitated.

"Can I ask you to do something for me, I know we hardly know each other and you've only just got here but you'd be perfect-" he cut off my babbling.

"What is it?" he asked interested.

"You see in school I do art and for the holidays we were supposed to do a portrait of someone, portraying something like an emotion or a state like, I don't know, hate, love, revenge, things like that" I answered. "Usually Jasper and I just do it of each other but not this time"

"How come you're not doing it this time?" he asked.

"Well...Jasper decided to do it of Alice but that's just some other confusing story" I answered waving my hand dismissively.

"So all I have to do is pose basically" he said.

"Basically yeah" I answered praying he'd say yes. He sat there for a few moments thinking about it before a blinding smile appeared on his face.

"I'll do it" he said. My heart literally skipped a beat and I felt a smile appear on my face, in my head I was doing a happy dance and was glad that I could spend some time with Edward, pissing off Jasper was just the icing on the cake.

_I had my model_

**So I'm guessing that you guys are pissed at Jasper right, don't worry the next chapter will be basically Bella and Edward spending time together to get the painting done and will span out the course of two weeks meaning that there will be one more chapter after that in the summer holidays before we go back to school. Don't forget to review!**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter's out and it's Friday sorry it's late though I wanted to post earlier but I haven't been feeling well.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 25**

Today I was on cloud nine, I would be meeting with Edward in an hour to go over some poses and to outline a couple of ideas. I had knocked on Jasper's door that morning to tell him where I was going and why, he ignored me and tried to pretend he wasn't there but I a few minutes before I went to tell him I saw him sneaking up the stairs into his bedroom, I didn't see why he was mad at me when he was the one accusing me of being a bad judge of people's characters. Edward was going to pick me up from Jaspers house and take me over to his seeing as how Carlisle and Esme weren't in until later tonight, so we'd have complete privacy.

For my painting I wanted to emphasis some things about Edward, I mean the fact that he has amazing green eyes could point to jealousy whilst the rest of him screamed sex and lust. I wanted him to represent a really powerful emotion but I wanted them to be drawn to something on the painting that absolutely captivates them.

Charlotte had driven me home to pick up the rest of my painting supplies and taken me back to hers to wait for Edward. The majority of the outlines I have already drawn out consisted of Edward being half naked.

The idea I liked best was basically him lying on a bed his shirt off, wearing black dress pants which were unzipped revealing Calvin Klein boxers. His eyes were staring directly forward and his eyes were going to be painted an extremely vivid green that would draw everyone in.

The expression on his face had to be one of extreme anger but also extreme lust, the green was to represent jealousy. For the background I was going to paint in giant velvet red drapes and black walls, it was supposed to remind you of the bedrooms they had in Victorian time's but it was meant to be themed to look as though a vampire lived there.

Edward's body was going to be a creamy colour but quite pale and his hand was going to be tangled in his hair, I almost considered drawing in the body of a half naked body but I doubted Edward would appreciate it.

After Alice had run off after Jasper we had spent most of the night talking and getting to know each other he told me all about the different countries he'd travelled to and I told him about Phoenix. He was a really nice guy and I was glad I got the chance to be working with him on this project.

I heard the sound of a car pulling up outside and rushed down the stairs – as fast I could without falling – clutching my supplies to my chest. Before he had a chance to get to the door, I had it thrown open and closed it behind me.

"Someone's a little eager" he said teasingly.

"So, I love art so much" I said pouting.

"Ok, ok" he answered putting his hands up in defence. "Come on let's get going" He placed his hand on my back and guided to me to the passenger side of his car where he opened the door for me and closed it behind me. I was shocked it turned out Jasper wasn't the only gentleman in the family.

The inside of his car smelt of leather and something else, I couldn't place and his windows were tinted. I could tell the car was a Volvo but that was all I could tell. The side of his car slammed shut as well and he started the engine. Then he started fiddling with the radio and the calming sounds of Debussy filtered through the speakers.

"Claire de Lune?" I asked him surprised.

"You know it?" he asked in return.

"Yeah" I laughed. "My mum used to play it when I was little"

"So she plays?"

"No, not really, she had gone through this phase of loving the piano and she had tried to learn how to play, she did, but very badly although she had the CD." I said

"Do you play?" he asked contemplatively.

"No, no just basic notes and things, I do play a guitar though"

"Would you like to learn, I mean I could teach you and everything because you'll be round my house a lot because of the art thing"

"I'd like that but after we've finished because I prefer to have my full attention on the art"

"Of course"

We spent the rest of the car ride in silence and eventually we pulled up to his house, I was once again struck dumb at how big it was.

He helped me out of the car and in through the house carrying my supplies for him, he out the things in the living room and led me to the kitchen.

"Do you want a drink or a snack or something?" he asked.

"A drink would be nice"

"Okay we've got Coke, Pepsi, Water, Juice..."

"Water please"

"Ice?"

"No thanks"

Whilst he got me some water I took the chance to look round the kitchen. It was really nice, marble counters and oak cupboards. I was green with envy, how ironic because it was an idea I wanted to try out on him.

"Ok, let's head up to my room and we can start there" Edward said placing his hand on the small of my back and leading me up the stairs to his bedroom. As we went up I couldn't help but notice some pictures hanging around the house of him growing, there were Edward and Jasper along with their parents, but there were two other couples, one had dark hair like Edward but one had lighter hair like Jasper and there was a little girl as well. She was extremely pretty and looked like Jasper, I was guessing that was Lilly but the thing that worried me was the fact that she looked extremely familiar like I'd seen her before, but I just couldn't place her face.

Edward's bedroom like the rest of the house was grand, there was a wall made completely out of glass that gave a good view over the forests. He had a giant book case filled with CD's, DVD's and books. He had an extremely complicated stereo system and above that a flat screen TV.

He had his own attached bathroom but I couldn't see into it as the door was closed. His bed was king sized and had an extremely ostentatious cover that was made of different shades of gold. I eyed it because it must have been as comfortable as it looked.

"So I'm just going to set up and then we can work on a couple of different poses in here. If you don't feel comfortable with one of the poses then you can tell me" I said to him as I started putting everything together.

"So what ideas do you have?" Edward asked me. I had set up a sheet of paper already and was mixing a few colours.

"Well your eyes are green so we could use that for jealousy or lust or something. Umm...let's see we could do anger or something like that, a really powerful emotion" I said thoughtfully.

"Ok cool, how do you want me to pose then?"

"We could start with lust and jealousy but for that you'd have to umm...take your shirt off but I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or anything" I stammered out blushing bright red.

"It's alright Bella" I watched as he swiftly removed his shirt, his muscles flexing as he did, I dropped my eyes immediately but the image seemed burned into my retina.

"Ok, just lie on the bed or something and try to look angry, I just want to try sketching out your body in different poses and things and I'll basically just do a rough copy of you with different ideas before we figure out a more permanent idea"

"Sure"

We worked in silence after that, him asking a few questions about how I wanted him to pose was really the only conversation that flowed but it wasn't awkward. I wanted to ask him something but I was really nervous about doing so, firstly I didn't know how he'd react to me trying to find out about his past as I'd only just met him and secondly maybe something traumatic had happened and I was going to feel like a bitch for bringing it up.

I was standing there tracing and everything, glancing at Edward periodically and a frown had managed to work itself onto my face. I hadn't even realised I had until Edward pointed it out amongst other things.

"Bella, whatever you want to ask me just ask, I'm not going to bite your head off" Edward laughed although it was slightly awkward as he was trying to portray a feeling of hurt.

"It's just...I was curious about why you moved here and all, I mean, I didn't even know Esme and Carlisle had kids but then, Charlotte told me and it was...I was just wondering why now and everything to well...come here" I finished looking down embarrassed.

"It's alright Bella, it's not...it's umm" he began rubbing his hands up and down his cheeks before beckoning me to sit next to him. "My life is actually pretty complicated basically I was born in June to Edward and Elizabeth Masen, I thought that they were my biological parents and they were kinds young when I thought they'd had me, she was 24 and he was 25. They raised me and everything and I grew up thinking Esme and Carlisle were my aunt and uncle. A couple of years ago when I was about 13 my mum and dad they were in a car crash, my dad died instantly but my mum held on for a bit longer at least a day or something enough time for Esme and Carlisle to fly down anyway. She begged him to look after me and they left the room and she told me the whole story" he glanced down to look at his hands and a feeling of empathy consumed me. I put one of my hands over his and gave it a squeeze, he smiled sadly at me in return.

"Turns out Esme and Carlisle are my biological parents, they had me quite young and so my mum – Elizabeth – being the dutiful older sister stepped in and said that she'd raise me as her own, as much as Esme wanted to protest she knew it was for the best and it was better than giving me up for adoption but after my mum died they asked me what I'd like to do whether I wanted to live with them or whatever, the school I was attending was a private school but I wasn't boarding there but after the accident I just, I wanted that feeling of normalcy. They stayed and took care of everything like the funerals and things, the owned lot's of house around the world because we travelled a lot and on holidays Carlisle and Esme would take me there but I just stayed at the boarding house, then I met Amy" he whispered dreamily.

"Who's Amy?" I asked.

"This girl who is just amazing and I just feel really strongly about her but we weren't dating or anything we were just friends" he groaned "Geez, I sound like a Jonas Brothers song, basically, she told me one day that she was going to be moving to Forks to go live with her cousin Mike, she said she hates living with either of her step families and Mike's family is quite stable"

"Mike?" I asked incredulously "Mike Newton?"

"Umm...yeah I guess, her surname's Newton so probably"

"Oh my gosh" I gasped placing my hand over my mouth.

"So I figured last time I saw Esme she was asking me to come here, to move in with them and I'm glad I have, it made her really happy, this is the first time since I got here that they've gone out alone"

"Oh"

"What's going on between you and Jasper?"

"Nothing, it's just he was, is my best friend but he just, he was...he betrayed me I guess in a way" I started.

"Explain" and I did, I told him everything from when we met Alice to the day I saw them kissing to everything in Phoenix to yesterday. I don't know why it's just he's confided in me so much I felt like it was the least I could do.

"So you have feelings for him?" he asked to clarify.

"Yeah, I guess and it sucks so badly"

"Jasper gets jealous really easily you know, he's angry that we're friends as well, maybe he might realise his feelings if he sees that you are a girl and other guys like you and everything, I mean I could maybe put my arm around your shoulders or something, or I could hug you just to piss him off" he suggested.

"Do you think that would work?" I asked my voice full of hope, I was so angry with myself that I even cared but him and Alice weren't an item but he was still a douche. I knew I'd forgive him eventually just not now.

"Yeah, I know guys and he'll get pissed because he regards you as his" I liked the possessiveness more than I probably should have.

We were silent for a moment and a contemplative look appeared on his face. He cupped my cheek and leaned in silently. When he was just a hairs breadth away from me he whispered "Can I kiss you?"

I jumped away from him quickly and stood up shocked.

"No Bella, I mean I don't want to kiss you, I mean I do but not for the reasons your thinking, for Amy so I can you know, I dunno..." he stammered, running his hand through his hair. I decided to try and steer the conversation away from this awkward moment, I sat back on the bed and thought about my next question.

"What's she like?" I asked him.

"Beautiful, caring, generous. I'm pretty sure I'm in love with her but I don't know...ever since I met her I haven't even looked at another girl and I really, really want to know that my feelings for her...that they're real" he said turning to look at me.

"That's why you wanted to kiss me" I whispered.

"That's why I wanted to kiss you, to see if the sparks are there, if that same electricity is there and it's just you understand me and what it's like..." I sat contemplating his words for a bit.

"OK" I squeaked "You can kiss me"

I turned to face him crossing my legs Indian style and he mimicked my pose, he leaned one hand forward and brushed it against my cheek tucking a stray hair behind my ear. I felt so nervous like a little kiss about to have their first kiss. A blush filled my cheeks at the intensity of his green eyed gaze and I saw the corner of lip turn up ever so slightly.

He began leaning forward and my eyelids fluttered closed, I felt his lips brush my lips so quickly that it was as though they'd never been there.

"So beautiful" he murmured so quietly I wasn't sure that I'd really heard it.

He brushed my lips against his three more times before planting them firmly on his, his hands moved to cup my cheeks but mine stayed uselessly on my lap, unaware of where do go. Eventually I felt him moving back and I opened my eyes.

"Nothing?" he asked.

"Nada, you?"

"No" he answered. "Oh well, at least I got a decent kiss from a pretty girl"

"I wish I could say the same"

"You wish you could have kissed a pretty girl?" he asked teasingly.

"No...I mean...arrgh...you know what I mean"

"So you're saying I wasn't a decent kisser" he said his voice lowering an octave.

"Maybe" I said getting nervous.

"Then maybe you need a repeat performance Miss Swan" he leaned forward dangerously and I leaned back until he was hovering over me. His lips came down and once again he kissed me except this time it was rougher, less dangerous, less innocent. He tongue came out and prodded my bottom lip asking for permission which I gladly gave. His hands went to my waist and my hands tangled in his hair, I don't know how long we kissed for but it was a long time before we came up for air.

His put his forehead against mine whilst we regained our breath and a smirk snaked it's way onto his lips.

"You seem a little out of breath Miss Swan so I'm guessing you enjoyed our little kiss"

"Shut up" I said, weakly punching him on the shoulder, he chuckled quietly. I turned my head to the left and a movement at the door caught my attention. Wavy blonde hair to be precise. I pushed Edward off of me and took off after Jasper.

He was way ahead of me and the fact that he had long legs and I was clumsy beyond belief gave him the advantage.

"Jasper! Jasper!" I screamed out. His footsteps faltered for a second before he stopped altogether.

"What Bella? Why don't you go back upstairs to Edward and continue fucking him which I sure you guys were well on the way too" he spat out.

"Gosh, Jasper, why can't you just give me a moment to explain?" I screamed.

"Like you gave me a moment. Go ahead then seeing as how you didn't even wait before shacking up with my cousin. First with this Alec guy now him, you've barely been home 3 days Bella"

"It was a...an experiment Jasper. Nothing more, nothing less, simply an experiment. Any way why do you care? Yesterday you were basically screaming at me for some stupid reason and now you're angry because you think I'm sleeping with Edward" I asked severely confused.

"It's just, Bella when...when I see or hear you talking to another guy or talking about what you've been doing with another guy, it gets me so _fucking_ angry. The idea of some other guy putting there hands on you...touching you, I just hate it. I just feel so protective of you Bella. When I saw Edward on top of you, I wanted to rip his arms off and castrate him before feeding his balls to him and it's odd because he's my cousin but you're...you're _Bella_ and it just isn't fair or right or natural for any guy to be with you except..." he trailed off.

"Oh Jazz" I cried before throwing my arms around his neck, his hands instinctively wrapped around my waist. "Why do you care though?" I asked, I was really hoping it was because he loved me or had some kind of feelings for me, I couldn't imagine what else it'd be. His arms tightened around my waist.

"Bella it's just" my heart skipped a beat waiting for him to answer "you're practically my sister and I'm practically your brother" my jaw dropped open "and what brother likes the idea of a guy touching their little sister" I pushed him away from me and glared.

"Fuck you" I screamed tears filling my eyes "Fuck you Jasper, fuck you to heck you heartless bastard" I turned around and ran upstairs to Edward's room where he was waiting patiently for me outside at the sight of me he ran putting his hands on my shoulders.

"What happened?" he asked concerned. At the sound of his voice I burst in to tears and spilled out the whole sob story. When I was done he sat me down on his bed and handed me some tissue, at some point I guessed Jasper had left the house.

"It's just...this time" I sniffed "I really thought...it was...that he...he meant it"

"I know Bella, I know, it's alright" Edward soothed.

"I wish I could just turn these feelings off because in the end I know that he'll just hurt me and I wish I could avoid it but it's like I can't, like I don't want to and I'm an idiot. He's going to end up with Alice and there going to have kids and everything" I cried.

"You're not the idiot Bella, he is if he can't see how special you are, how smart, how talented"

"He see's me like his little sister, there's no chance"

"Don't worry Bella, things have a way of working out but you need to be patient"

I cried there in his arms that evening, when I finished, none of us were in the mood to continue the sketching so he played for me and showed me a few basic notes, I sang along to a couple of songs and soon enough I was fighting to stay awake. He picked me up and carried me to the car, he brought my sketch book and pencils but left all the paint seeing as how I'd be back there the next day to try painting a few ideas.

He took me home with me pointing out the few directions and carried me to bed as I was sure I wouldn't be capable of standing on my own two feet, he took off my shoes and got me a cup of water and an Advil to ward off the headache I was sure to have in the morning. The last thing I remember is him kissing my forehead and telling me to have sweet dreams before taking off.

**Okay don't shoot me for that scene with Jasper, I know you guys were hoping that he'd finally pulled his head out of his ass but no such luck, who loved Edward my Edward's going to be a good guy so don't worry. Let's see Bella isn't a whiny ass I mean wouldn't you cry if the guy your semi in love with said something like that. Don't forget to review and feedback is always appreciated.**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	26. Chapter 26

**Another chapter, yay! This chapter is really fluffy and calm so if you were hoping for another fight you won't find it in this one. Thank you to everyone who has either reviewed, alerted or put this story as a favourite, it means the world to me and I love you all for it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 26**

Jasper.

Jasper.

Jasper.

Each day he made me more and more confused, my feelings for him conflicted with the logic in my mind about what I should do, the right thing would be to be his friend and nothing more but I couldn't help but wish that we were something more and it was driving me crazy.

The rest of the summer however passed by in a blur so quickly it was as though I blinked and all of a sudden it was the day before school started. Jasper and I weren't back to normal per se but we were communicating. I hadn't exactly forgiven him _or _Alice but she was definitely trying.

_Edward _on the other hand, we spent nearly everyday together and not just because of the painting. We talked and hung out and he taught me how to play the piano well at least how to play 2 un complicated songs and the beginning chords of _The Lonely One_. Ever since I had watched it in an episode of Family Guy I was hooked and had to learn how to play it, thankfully Edward liked it as much as I did and was more than willing to help me.

After that day he kissed me, he never kissed me again. He stuck to normal friend guidelines when we were alone however when we were near Jasper, he'd casually put his arm round my shoulder or wrap and arm around my waist, everything could be seen as normal behaviour but hopefully Jasper would be jealous enough to think otherwise.

He told me more about Amy, she really did sound like a nice girl, the only problem was they were still _Just Friends. _It was tearing Edward up not knowing how she felt, we had discussed his feelings a bit more and came to the conclusion that he wasn't deeply head over heels in love with her but it was definitely more than a crush or a huge bout of lust. I felt bad for him, I really did, in my case Jasper was here and I could at least try and work something out, I mean we could potentially be friends again and maybe even build a relationship, it would be a lot harder for Edward but since she was moving here it would make it a lot easier.

However it was Jasper who had me staring at my ceiling at 2.30 am in the morning. The day before, we had hung out together, just the two of us, like old times and we just, it was as though nothing had changed between us. We talked about everything, I told him about Phoenix and I showed him my tattoos and piercing swearing him to secrecy, I mean even though we were sorta arguing he was still my best friend.

He liked them, he really, really liked them and I was glad. We also spoke about what happened between him and Alice and we managed to actually have a civil conversation, one that didn't involve screaming and swearing. He asked if I'd forgiven him and I said maybe. Even though what he did still stung, I couldn't just give up our friendship like that and I actually didn't know if I'd forgiven him or not but I still wanted to make him stew.

Another thing that played on my mind was that Jasper had told me he loved me numerous times, he made out with me and then tells me he thought of me as his sister. It was odd and very, _very_ disturbing because what guy would want to make out with their little sister unless he was into incest and stuff which would be creepy. Very creepy.

Anyway it was 2.30 in the morning and I was staring at my ceiling, I couldn't turn my brain off no matter how much I tried. Charlie snored on down the hall and I couldn't help but envy him greatly.

I sighed and turned over debating whether or not to go and see what's on television when the sound of something hitting my window drew my attention to it. At first I dismissed it as the tree branch getting blown by the breeze but then I heard the voice of someone calling my name.

I shot up in bed and clasped my duvet to my chest and turned to look out of it, at first glance I couldn't see anything, I screwed my eyes up a little and eventually made out a figure crouching on the tree branch. I got up from my bed and quietly made my way over to the window and threw it open. Outside my window, perched unsteadily on the tree branch was Jasper. My eyes widened in shock and I covered my mouth in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed at him. He wobbled slightly on the branch but regained his footing.

"Can I come in first?" he asked petulantly. I stepped aside and opened the window a little wider so he could slip in easily. He landed gracefully and with ease in my room and just stood there looking around at everything after dropping his bag on the floor.

"Well Jasper what do you want?" I asked again crossing my arms protectively over my chest hoping he wouldn't notice I wasn't wearing a bra.

"I dunno, I couldn't sleep and I came over to just hang out" he shrugged plopping down on my bed.

"Hang out? Hang out, Jasper it's after two in the morning, Charlie is asleep down the hall and you cam here to just hang out"

"Well yeah, it's not like I haven't spent the night here before Bella, don't get your panties in a bunch" he then proceeded to remove his jacket and his shoes then propped the pillows against the head board before lying back and crossing his arms in front of him.

"Jasper" I whined "I'm tired and I was asleep you know"

"Yeah, you were staring pretty intensely at the ceiling, I was afraid you'd fallen asleep with your eyes open" he said in a sarcastic tone that really annoyed me.

"Don't get rude to me you're the one whose bothering me" I huffed.

"Yeah, yeah, Bella come to bed" he got under the covers and opened it for me to get in. I turned away petulantly and glared at the floor.

"Please Bella" he begged. I looked at him and he put on his best puppy dog face and pouted a little. I gasped indignantly.

He _knew_ I couldn't resist that face.

"Fine" I relented.

"Glad you could see things my way Bells" he smiled.

"Shut up Jazz" I climbed into the bed and covered myself with the duvet cover before turning away from Jasper to face the door.

"Be-la" he whined before wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me into him. He took a deep breath and sighed.

"Why did you change your shampoo?" he asked sadly.

This threw me for a loop, do I tell him the truth or a lie or better yet a half lie? It was odd because I didn't even think he'd notice or anything but turns out he did or does.

"I needed a change"

"I liked strawberry better, the mango doesn't compliment the freesia" he mumbled.

"What?"

"You have this natural smell of freesia's Bella and you usually use strawberry shampoo and body wash which smells really nice together but the mango and freesia don't smell as nice together. Plus I hate mangos"

"Why does that mean any thing to me?" I asked frustrated. Jaspers arms tightened around me for a split second before I was assaulted by a breeze. I shivered and turned round only to see Jaspers form crouching on the ground.

"What are you doing?" I hissed at him once again.

"Wait a second" he got up and disappeared out my bedroom door. I could only stare wide eyed praying that he was quiet and praying that Charlie did not wake up anytime soon. Soon enough he was walking back into my room with a satisfied smile on his face and climbing into bed as though nothing had happened. I turned round and made sure I was facing him before beginning my questioning.

"Where did you go?"

"Bathroom"

"Why?" I asked confused.

"To take care of business" I could feel my face heating at the implication of those words.

"Eww, gross Jasper, I hope you washed your hands afterwards" I groaned backing away from him.

"No, no Bella I wasn't jacking off or anything...geez I was...getting rid of your mango stuff and replacing it with that strawberry stuff you used to use" he answered blushing lightly.

"Why though, I mean why would you go to all that effort?"

"I lied to you Bella" he answered.

"I already know that Jasper"

"No I mean again, after that"

"Oh my...I cannot believe you Jasper, how could you-"

"No Bella, it's you know the other day...well last week to be more precise, when I walked in on you and Edward and we spoke on the stairs" he began.

"Yeah..." I hedged.

"You know when I told you I only thought of you as sister..."

"Yeah..."

"I lied, I don't think of you as a sister" he said.

"What do you think of me as then?" I asked.

"My best friend, you're my best friend" he rushed out quickly.

"Oh, okay then" I sighed dejectedly.

"Go to sleep now my Bella" he whispered pulling me closer to him and kissing me on the forehead, I just didn't have the strength or energy to bother fighting against him and I liked that he was here, I missed being this close to him. As I began drifting off to sleep I could have sworn I heard him say 'I wish we could be more'

xXx

I woke up the next morning happy until I realised Jasper was gone, I sat up in bed and looked around, but I couldn't see any trace of him. I got out of bed, grabbed some clothes and did my morning routine before going downstairs.

The first thing I noticed was the TV was on, this worried me because Charlie had gone to work that morning and it was 1 in the afternoon. I bit my lip and walked into the living room – praying no one had broken in – and found it empty.

I sighed and my heart slowed down until I realised that if they weren't in the living room then they could be somewhere else in the house, I heard some rustling and realised that it was coming from the kitchen. I grabbed the remote hoping to throw it at the intruder and once again found no one, the window however was open, which caused the wind to rustle the newspaper on the counter.

I closed the window and went back into the living room wondering what the hell was going on, I threw the remote back on the coffee table and slumped into the seat. I was debating whether or not to order a pizza when the slamming of a car door caught my attention. I sat up straighter in my seat wondering who it could be, most likely Alice.

I was trying to decide whether or not to ignore her when she knocked when I realised that someone was opening the door. I couldn't think what Charlie could have left behind but when I turned around, I was met with the sight of Jasper.

"You came back?" I asked surprised.

His eyebrows shot up and he smiled a crooked smile, it definitely ran in the family. "Nice to see you too sleepy head, I've got sustenance" I really looked at him then, he had some cardboard boxes in his hand, a black coloured bag on his shoulder and another bag in his hand.

"Good timing" I smiled. He came over to where I sat and placed the cardboard boxes on the table, I smiled happily realising it was pizza.

"Let me go get some plates" he said about to head to the kitchen, I grabbed his leg stopping him.

"No point Jazz" I said. He sat down next to me and opened the first box, which I found contained cheesy garlic bread. "What is all this for anyway?"

"Movie marathon, we've got three large pizzas, one medium for Charlie which we should put in the kitchen, starters and many, many DVD's as well as drinks" he said gesturing to the bags at his feet.

"You really went all out" I stated.

"Yeah, I mean, it was the least I could do, I was a jerk this summer and a really bad friend, I put a girl before you and that's not right. I broke my promise that I'd never hurt you because I did" he sighed running his fingers through his hair before sitting back and looking at me "You were always there Bella, you kept trying to reach out to me and I just ignored you and I don't even really know why because at first you, me and Alice hung out together but then I started hanging out with her alone and it just...it was different and I dunno...I just" I covered one of his hands with mine and brushed my thumbs over his knuckles.

The silence stretched out between us as I contemplated my next words "It's okay Jazz, I...I forgive you" I whispered. He smiled at me and everything was just, it was good again.

"Do you mean it?" his voice held so much hope that I could feel myself falling for him even more.

"Yeah" I sighed. He moved out clasped hands to his mouth and kissed all of my knuckles before manoeuvring me to sit in his lap, I laid my head on his shoulder and we sat in silence.

"I really do love you Bella" he whispered to me.

"I know, I love you too"

"Now after that intense moment, how about a comedy, I've got _Miss Congeniality _or _You, Me and Dupree?_" he asked reaching for the black bag at his feet. I slid back into the seat next to him.

"You, Me and Dupree" I answered, whilst he placed the DVD in the DVD player.

"Start eating while I warm up some popcorn" he said heading to the kitchen with Charlie's pizza and a little box of starters in his hand.

"Get some cups" I shouted out to him.

"Okay" he replied.

That night we rekindled our friendship, I got my best friend back and I refused to lose him again, even if I had to ignore all of my feelings for him, I would not let anything get in the way of us again.

"Bella" Jasper whispered to me, I was leaning into him and we were watching what out fourth movie 'The Lake House' "You're still my number one girl and I won't ever let a girl come between us again, I promise"

"Glad to know Jazz" I beamed up at him "Glad to know"

And it was.

**Short chapter I know but we're back to school in the next one, I just wanted to get one out because I know I haven't updated in about a week but I was ill no excuse but still. I'm hoping to get another chapter out on the weekend but I can't make any promises. Don't forget to review.**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	27. Chapter 27

**Short chapter mostly a filler but still...some new characters introduced and Amy's finally here we can meet her, next chapter will be more interesting.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 27**

I was currently sat outside on my porch waiting for Jasper to take me to school. I was beyond nervous and had to get some fresh air even though he wouldn't be there for another 5 minutes or so. It was quite a warm day for Forks but the sun wasn't out. I was dressed in dark denim skinny jeans, paired with my worn chucks and a long sleeved white t-shirt with a blue flannel shirt on top. Alice had offered to come pick me up – her dad had bought her a new Porchse – so she could do my make up as well. I declined although I did try to make a bit of an effort, my hair was straightened and was in pigtails and I was wearing some eye liner and mascara as well as a coat of lip gloss.

I looked pretty presentable even by Jane's standards, I also wore a wooden necklace with a matching bracelet as well as a few random bracelets I've picked up over the years. I had woken up with plenty of time to spare and in my nervous state I had cleaned my bedroom up as well as most of the house, for breakfast I had some strawberry pop tarts and a glass of water.

I was bobbing my knees up and down and was trying straining to hear whether Jasper was close by when he pulled into the driveway, I got up and walked over clutching the finished canvas for Art class to my chest, when I noticed Alice was occupying the front seat and in the back was Edward. That confused me because if Alice was offering to pick me up how come she was here, in Jaspers car, right now?

I was greeted with a chorus of hello's from Jasper and Edward as I slid in next to in the back Edward and he gave me a side hug, Jasper pulled out of my driveway and started in the direction of the school, I turned to Edward and gave him a confused look, before tilting my head lightly in Alice's direction. He shrugged his shoulders in reply and I slumped against the seat.

"Hey Bella, oh my gosh you must be so nervous, I am, you look great today you know, I really like your bracelets, where did you get them? Oh my gosh, I still cannot believe I'm a Junior now, imagine that graduating a year early, that means we could have a gap year together or something and then start College with people are own age or we could go to College and graduate early as well, oh my gosh and school, I don't even know anyone, what if people don't like me?" she cried turning to face Jasper.

"I'm sure they'll love you, right Bella?" he asked looking at me in the rear view mirror.

"Yeah" _As much as you like a bouncing bunny on speed _I thought sarcastically.

The rest of the car ride was filled with idle chatter about random subjects and all too soon we were pulling into the school park. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it still looked the same as when I last saw it.

We went to the office and got our timetables, I was sure Mrs Cope was going to have a heart attack when she saw Edward and Jasper together and I couldn't help but roll my eyes and snicker under my breath, because we arrived early we showed them around the school before congregating in the quad to compare our timetables.

Just as I'd predicted, I did have some lessons with Alice but there weren't as many as I thought there'd be. However my timetable wasn't too different from my last years one so it'd be easy to memorise.

-Period 1: Spanish (Senorita Gonzalez)

-Period 2: Art

-Period 3: Advanced English (Mr Mason)

Lunch

-Period 5: Advanced Biology (Mr Banner)

-Period 6: History

-Period 7: Study Hall

-Period 8: Gym (Coach Clapp)

I had English with Alice, Art with Alice, Gym with Alice and Study Hall with Alice as well as lunch, I had Biology and Study Hall with Edward but sadly I'd dropped Music or else we may have had that together. Jasper on the other hand had Art with me as well, Study Hall and History. I wasn't sure why I'd picked History but Jasper had convinced me that it was extremely interesting and when he talked about it I found it very fascinating.

Soon enough the bell rang and we split up going our separate directions, Alice and Jasper had a class together this period and Edward – like me – was alone. I met up with Angela and we talked briefly about our summers. She had gone away for a bit but spent most of the time with her boyfriend Ben Cheney.

I was happy for her, you could see they were just meant for each other and even now they still had this newness to their relationship where they'd glance at each other and look away embarrassed.

I breezed through Spanish and quickly went to my locker to remove the canvas I had deposited there earlier and practically sprinted to Art eager to unveil my drawing. I looked around and couldn't see Alice or Jasper anywhere so I went into the classroom surprisingly found their stuff at our usual table but they were nowhere to be seen.

I sat down miserable at a desk in the back and placed my canvas on the table. I stared at the clock angrily unaware of anything going on around me when I vaguely noticed someone taking a seat next to me. I stared at the unfamiliar girl and realised she must have been new.

"Hi" I started smiling at her "I'm Bella Swan"

She smiled cautiously back at me extending her hand "I'm Amelia Newton but please call me Amy"

"Oh, so your Mike's cousin" I said surprised because she looked slightly like him but a lot more feminine.

"Oh no" she groaned "He hasn't been going on about it has he?"

"No, no" I quickly reassured her "Edward told me, not that your Mike's cousin but that you were starting here as well"

"Edward's here?" she asked smiling.

"Yeah but he's not in this lesson, I think he's in Music probably" I answered.

"I love hearing him play, it's like he popped out already knowing, it's amazing" she said a wonderous tone in her voice.

"So you guys are really good friends then?" I hedged.

"Yeah, we're really close, it's weird I'm closer to him than I am to people I've known for years longer and it's just, like when we go out people find it hard ot believe that a girl and boy can be such good friends with no romantic feelings involved, you know, they always assume that we must be fooling around secretly when we're really not and it honestly annoys me when someone says something like that" her cheeks had flushed red from her little rant, speaking of her rant, I felt horrible for Edward here he is developing strong feelings for her and she's angry that people are assuming that they have nothing more than a platonic relationship.

I looked up and saw that most of the class had filled up while we were talking and I saw that Jasper and Alice had come in as well although I doubted that they had seen me.

We had a new teacher this term still a woman but her name was Miss Rainbow. Despite how wacky her name was she was surprisingly a very dow to earth teacher. She took the register and had the new students briefly introduce themselves. Alice was of course exuberant but Amy was slightly more withdrawed.

After that she had us set up easels around the room and place our canvases on them, I had a sheet covering my one and was nervous about unveiling it but most of all I wanted Jasper to see it. I had Amy walk over with me to where they were stationed and I introduced them to her. We looked at Jasper's painting and I tried to quell the hurt that rose in my chest.

"Bella, let's go see your painting" Alice squealed latching onto my arm and dragging me over to my one before I could say no. Miss Rainbow chose that moment to come over and look at my work.

"Isabella, why don't you unveil it?" she suggested. I stood off to the side nervously and pulled the sheet I had draped over it.

I was met with immediate silence and a gasp from Amy, I looked down dishearted, I thought it was good, Edward had told me it was good but I guess it wasn't, I tried to ignore the prickling of tears in my eyes.

"Bella...that's...that's just...amazing" Amy breathed. I peeked up through my eyes and peered at her.

"She's right" continued Miss Rainbow "I really like how you've congregated more than one idea into this drawing and it can be interpreted as many different things although there are also some very clear emotions, I especially like the style of painting you used, the background is dark and heavy but painted as Monet would however the actual portrait is just...well done Isabella this is going to get you some high marks" she praised before moving onto the next painting.

I looked at Jasper trying to judge his emotions as he wasn't speaking, his face looked conflicted and his eyes had darkened. He looked slightyl shocked, angry, jealous maybe but with a heavy sigh his face was a blank mask and he turned to look at me.

"It's really good Bells" he said before smiling a tight smile and walking back to his table.

"Yeah it is" Alice chirped before following him.

I stood in front of the painting and took it all in again. The background was designed to have a sexual atmosphere almost, there were heavy drapes in black and red as well as a giant bed which was the focus of the room, like the drapes they were also red and black.

Edward lay shirtless on the bed almost glaring, his hair was a mess as usual except it looked messier, the bed was also messy as though he'd just had sex. His voice was angry but very lustful but his eyes blazed full of jealousy, a button down was strewn on the ground as well as a black one piece dress and a lacey underwear set belonging to a woman.

When I was painting it, it got extremely embarrassing as I had to paint a bulge in his pants, although his trousers were partly open. He wasn't smiling, he looked like he was almost frowning. I loved having Edward model for me, he was easy to work with and had good ideas as well.

I was really hoping that Jasper was jealous even though I didn't want anything to ruin our friendship. For the rest of the lesson we didn't speak to each other although I did see him looking at me and looking away, on the other hand you could hear Alice babbling a mile a minute to him but he didn't look like he was listening to her.

Class finished and I headed off to English which passed pretty quickly. When I cam out of class I was stunned to see Jasper waiting for me...and Alice of course. Edward was there and Amy was standing next to him together we headed off to lunch. I bit my lip thinking of how to break the ice with Jasper when he shocked me by tugging my arm a little.

"We'll meet you guys there" he said to the rest of them, Alice stopped what she was saying and with a frown continued walking.

"So err...hey" he began.

"Hey" I said back smiling a little, we were walking into the quad.

"About Art...I...erm I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was sitting with Alice, it's just that she made me promise to sit with her and I just...I couldn't break it" he stammered out.

"It's okay Jazz" I reassured him rubbing his arm.

"Great" he said smiling at me and I just like that we were good again. The rest of school passed really quickly and because it was the first day back the teachers didn't make us do any work so we spent most of the lessons just talking and catching up.

It was a good day.

**Short chapter and boring I know but next we skip forward a bit and then after that something special is going to happen so stay tuned. Don't forget to review!**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	28. Chapter 28

**New chapter yay, hope you like it. Lyrics in this are original and slightly cheesy but still.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 28**

School was going well and so were things between Jasper and I. He wasn't going out with anyone and neither was I. Edward and Amy, well things were complicated between them. Sometimes it was like she liked him and then it was like they were just friends, I'm sure the hot and cold act was driving Edward crazy.

Alice and I were for lack of a better word friends, we never hung out alone together, usually Jasper was with us, but when all three of us were together we got alone quite well. At first I was a bit sceptical about Jasper and Alice having no feelings for each other but after watching them (secretly of course) I realised that they were just platonic friends and that thought made me happier than it probably should have.

Charlie and I had gotten closer as had Rose and I. Last time we spoke we were discussing her and maybe even Emmett flying down to visit us or something. Charlie seemed happy about it for the most part accept for the Emmett part but they've spoken on the phone and I think he's coming around and warming up to him, I really think when Emmett told him he played football and loved fishing he almost cried tears of joy.

It would be amazing to have Rosalie and Emmett fly down to see me, I hadn't personally met Emmett but I'd seen a picture of him and we frequently talked over the phone. He was a senior in high school at the moment so he was only like a year older than me. Rosalie had moved in with him and his family around Christmas time, her dad seemed really cold when he just accepted that his 16 year old daughter was moving cross country to be with a guy she knew for only a couple of months, not that I'm against their relationship, but you'd think he'd put up more of a fight, her mum cried but went along with whatever her dad said.

Rose said that for once she was glad that her mum went along with her dad so much or else there was a chance she wouldn't have been allowed to go, maternally her dad lacked love, materialistically he didn't lack money and wired her money weekly, she didn't want to use it and wanted to get her own job to pay her way but Emmett said she should use it as it was her dad in the end it was decided that they'll open a saving account for a down payment on a house. Rose wanted a big house with lots of kids and a wrap around porch. Emmett was happy to give her anything she wanted. It was really sweet the way they were with each other, I already thought of Rose like my best friend or elder sister and Emmett as my big brother.

I was excited for two reasons, the first was Jasper's birthday was coming up, we had gotten closer and closer, I mean the whole dynamic of our relationship had changed, we didn't kiss anymore, we hugged but not for too long, we didn't hold hands it was as though he was distancing us from anything that could be portrayed as being more than just friends.

I had his present already wrapped up and his party was tomorrow, Valentine's Day was coming up as well and even though I didn't have a date I was hoping maybe Jasper and I could hang out and do something fun just the two of us.

"Bella" Jasper started, I had forgotten he was in here with me "I need to talk to you about something serious, I mean I feel like I need to ask you first, I do need to ask you first, it wouldn't be fair if I didn't"

"What is it Jazz?" I asked confused. I put the book I was reading down on my bed and swung my legs over and lowered myself on the floor next to him.

"Well..." he stalled putting his guitar on the floor next to him "I kind of wanted to ask this girl out for Valentine's Day and I wanted your permission and also your help" I felt my heart get stuck in my throat and struggled to answer him.

"Su...sure" I stammered. I cleared my throat a little "Who is she? Do I know her?"

"You're going to hate me" he groaned. I couldn't think who it could be unless...

"Who is it Jasper?" I demanded.

"Don't get angry Bella, please, remember you're my best friend, my number one girl, no one can replace you..." he grabbed my hands in his.

"Who is she Jazz?" tears teased my eyes and I blinked them furiously.

"It's Alice" he answered running a hand through his hair.

"What?" I chocked out still shocked even though I knew it was coming.

"Bella, I never wanted to hurt you but if you don't want me to go out with her just say it and I won't" he looked so sad in that moment, I couldn't say no, no matter how much it'd hurt me.

"No, no Jazz, I was just shocked because you know I thought you were just friends and I'm a bit hungry let me just...let me just, let me go get something" I begged desperately.

"No wait Bella, I'll..."

"No don't worry" I imagined my face was a blank mask because that's how I felt, blank, empty, numb and I was scared because I didn't know why"

"Bella" I ignored his calls and hurried down the stairs to the kitchen, Charlie wasn't home and I was glad, I got myself a cup of water and drank it greedily trying to pass the time.

"Bella" I heard him sigh from behind me. I ignored him instead focusing on toasting myself some pop tarts.

"Bella, look at me, please" he sounded so pained. I turned around to face him but kept my eyes firmly on his feet.

"How long has this been going on?" I whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"You and Alice how long has it been going on?" I asked waving my hands in the air.

"Well...nothing has actually been going on, we've just you know, hung out together, just the two of us, like you and Edward do-"

"Edward and I hardly _ever _hang out just the two of us" maybe I exaggerated just a little, we did hang out a bit more than that but usually because I was helping him to get Amy to start thinking of him as more than just a friend, so that didn't really constitute as hanging out, more like scheming.

"Okay, okay but you know what I mean, it's just been platonic and we've got some classes together and we talk and everything and I have feelings for her"

"Okay then Jazz"

"Okay?"

"Okay I'll help you plan something for Valentine's, okay you can go out with Alice, okay just okay" I finished sadly.

"Bella if you don't want to do this..." he began. I turned around so he couldn't see me wiping away some errant tears.

"I do Jazz, I do, you're my best friend and I want to be there for you, I want to help you plan this" I turned around and forced a smile onto my face and I prayed for once that I be convincing. He seemed to believe it and I wasn't sure if I were happy about that or not.

"So what were you thinking?" I asked smiling a little, he blushed and we were off.

xXx

Jasper and I talked about romantic Valentine's Day ideas, I wasn't happy about it but it wasn't as though they were getting married, he was just asking her on a date and for all I know it could lead to nothing and if they did date and then broke up maybe things would get awkward and they'd be unable to be friends again. After he left it was as though Rose knew I needed her and called.

"So he wants to ask her out but he hasn't done it yet?" she asked just to clarify.

"Yes"

"And he asked for your permission first?"

"Yes"

"And you said yes?"

"Yes"

"Why the hell did you say yes?" she screamed.

"I don't know he was so sad and I told you my theories-"

"Bella, you've really got yourself into a mess, I mean it's like he doesn't even think of you as a woman with needs anymore"

"Rose!"

"What, it's true you have...hold on I'm putting it on speaker Emmett wants in, anyway as I was saying you are a woman with needs and he clearly isn't seeing that and if he won't spank your Brittany for ya then find someone who will"

"Did you just call my, you know, Brittany?" I asked.

"Yes"

"What am I going to do?" I groaned flopping back on my bed.

"About Jasper or your Brittany because I know your a virgin and all so I can't give you a vibrator but there are some excellent clit stimulators that I can send to you, hold on I think I've got a magazine around here somewhere" I died a little, I was so mortified,

"I've got an idea" Emmett boomed "Do something sexy I mean, I'm not telling you to go grinding all up on his junk and everything, but find out what he finds sexy and personify it, I mean if he likes school girl, put your hair in pigtails, start wearing blouses and wear plaid mini skirts like Rachel from Glee"

"You watch Glee?" I snorted.

"It's a good show Bells, don't diss it plus I was serious Rachel looks smoking in those ouch!" he suddenly exclaimed. "Why'd you hit me babe?" he whined. I could hear them start bickering and it would be amusing if it wasn't for the fact that I needed help right now.

"Hello guys, back to me"

"Oh yeah sorry Bella" Rose said "Emmet had a good idea, try out different sexual fantasies on him"

"But Rose..." I groaned.

"No Bella, his birthday's tomorrow right..." she trailed off.

"Yeah"

"That's the perfect opportunity, now this is what you're going to wear. You will pick out that thong and matching bra set Jane got you"

"She has a what?" Emmett shouted "You own a what?"

"Shut up Emmett, now you will match that with that dress you told me Jane got you as well, the scarlet one with the gold lining, you can't walk in heels so match that with black flats and that opal necklace, Esme was it, got you for Christmas and voila! Your perfect outfit"

"What about make up and stuff?" I asked worried.

"Don't worry, we need to go out now but be on your computer at, what time are you going round his?"

"Six"

"Then be on your computer, with the webcam and speaker connected for 5, okay?"

"Okay, bye Rose"

"Bye Bella"

"Bye baby Bella" Emmet yelled out.

"Later Em"

I got out the outfit and lay it on the rocking chair that had inhabited my room since I was a baby before pulling out my tattered copy of Wuthering Heights and reading. After about an hour I realised I hadn't composed anything in a long, long time.

I grabbed a notebook and pen from my desk and sat Indian style on my bed, tapping the pen thoughtfully against my cheek before beginning to write.

_You are the first thing on my mind_

_When I wake up in the morning_

_And I know everything's alright_

I got stuck then unable to think of anything else and decided to leave it and start something new.

_Like waterfalls we flow together_

_But just like clouds we drift away_

_Hold on to me, don't let us go _

_Just see what we could possibly be_

_And then a day comes_

_When you're in your darkest hour_

_I'll sing you back to happiness_

_I'll lead you back to light_

_And when the rain begins to fall _

_And the sun starts to set_

_I'll be there_

I spent the rest of the afternoon working on the song and smiled when I finally saw it in its completion. I went to bed happy that night because the next day I'd get to work on seducing Jasper.

xXx

I woke up grumpy and miserable and I didn't know why. I stumbled to the bathroom and glared at my reflection in the mirror, my skin looked grey and sallow and I had bags underneath my eyes. I wasn't surprised considering I hadn't slept well at all.

I was nervous, more than nervous but I couldn't think of a word. Seducing Jasper had seemed like such a good idea especially with Emmett and Rosalie there coaching me but now I realised when I went to his little party thing I'd be by myself, with no one feeding me the lines or the words and I just knew he'd reject me or laugh in my face, the thought of either made me physically ill and I emptied what little was in my stomach.

After brushing my teeth and a quick shower I got dressed in a t-shirt and my sweatpants, seeing as how Jasper's party thing wasn't until later. It wasn't so much a party as it was a get together, his family of course would be there and so would Alice and Amy and also some friends from school.

I passed most of the day away reading and doing a few assignments but at 5 on the dot I was on my computer opposite Rosalie with Emmett in the background. She had already instructed me to shower again and to put my hair in curlers.

"Okay Bella first show me what make up you do have so I know what I'm working with" she commanded. I brought out my make up bag and laid everything out, showing them to the camera first.

"I hope you've been keeping up with your waxing Bella" I nodded vigorously "Good let's start with foundation, squirt a little and rub it evenly all over your face so it's even now use the powder, no not that one Bella, yes that one, now just, no Bella, evenly remember okay good. Your eyes are going to be the most important part, first I want you to use the black eye shadow and lightly dust your eyes" I closed my lids and did as she instructed. "Now get the red eye shadow and at the top, yes there Bella and dust the top part lightly now grab the mascara and do your eyelashes do one coat on one eye, then move onto the other like this" she grabbed a mascara wand and showed me what to do, she then demonstrated how she wanted the eye shadow and foundation to look as well.

I struggled to not poke myself in the eye as I did this for fear of my eyes watering and ruining all of Rose's hard work. I snorted; Alice wanted me to go round hers to get ready. I had got my licence and everything but I had no mode of transport and thankfully that was apparently a good enough excuse, it made me wonder, did Alice even really like me or did she simply put up with me simply because I was Jasper's best girl friend and she felt threatened so she decided that if she was friends with me Jasper would be more inclined to ask her out and she was probably right, he was going to and I knew without a doubt she would say yes. I saw the way she looked at him, longingly, some days I catch her staring at his lips but that was only after Christmas when she somehow managed to get him under mistletoe. That made me remember how Jasper had kissed me in that same spot a year earlier and my eyes teared a little.

"Now line your eyes thicker on the top lid, you want your eyes to look really thick, trust me you'll look gorgeous when I'm done with you Bella. Get that lip brush and rub some of the red lipstick on it, now paint your lips in it, this makes it look more professional and makes it last longer and presto you are done" she sat back proud of her work.

Emmett whistled loudly "Damn Bells you look fine, remember to take that pepper spray Charlie gave you to the party and remember don't go anywhere private with any guy you feel uncomfortable around remember how we all watched Miss Congeniality together, remember the parts where she was teaching defence remember them Bella, remember"

"Right Emmett"

"Now leave Emmett" Rose demanded "Bella needs to get ready and I doubt you'll want to see her naked ass"

"No thanks" he replied disgusted before leaving the room.

"Right Bella carefully slip the dress on, I hope your wearing the sexy underwear" it was a struggle to not let it muss up my make up but I did it in the end.

"You look gorgeous Bella, honestly, Emmett get back in here" she yelled.

"Now we need to find out ways of winning Jasper"

"Right" I agreed.

"Touch yourself" Emmett stated loudly. We both turned to look at him disgusted "No I mean like casually touch your hair or something because your hairs like naturally wavy just kind of shrug your shoulder whilst touching your hair or put a finger in your mouth or something and then try to look or innocent yet seductive, it'll drive him wild"

"Good idea Emmett, maybe you could try making him think of you and sex like I don't know strawberry's are an aphrodisiac, bite one and eat it slowly or if he's got food on the corner of his mouth, tell him and then using your index finger swipe it away and suck it into your mouth and go 'mmmm' his mind instantly goes to the gutter" Rosalie smiled.

"Anything else?" I could hear a car pulling up outside.

"I can't think of anything but I'll text you if I do, it's 6 now so put on your black flats and go, go, go" Rosalie gave me a thumbs up.

"Thanks guys"

"Anytime" we said good bye after that and I hurried to remove the rollers from my hair, comb it out and pin part of it up in an up do with some out framing my face. I quickly packed a duffel bag of clothes even though I probably already had clothes left over there anyway.

I hurried downstairs but waited until the doorbell had rang before taking my time and opening it, on the other side was Jasper looking as delicious as always and for some reason he started laughing.

"We match" he smiled and he was right, both of us were wearing black shoes, my dress was red with gold lining and he was wearing a red shirt with a gold tie, it gave me hope we could be together one day but not at the risk of our friendship, never at the risk of our friendship.

I got into his car noting that for once Alice wasn't there and relaxed into the seat, the drive was filled with little conversation but it wasn't awkward, soft melodic music filled the silence. We pulled up to his house pretty soon and was met with the sight of Alice's Porchse, it really was an eye sore, bright, happy just like her except I don't feel the constant need to slap her car as much as I sometimes want to do to her, like I said we may be friends, didn't stop me from wanting to slap her especially because Jasper was going to ask her out. I felt my heart clench a little and had to stop for a bit.

The house was decorated beautifully as always, minimum decoration to create maximum effect. Photos had been taken down and in their places were bowls of food, drink and so on. The kitchen was bursting with snacks and I wondered when Charlotte had found the time to buy everything.

"Bella, Jasper you're here. I can't wait, it's going to be so much fun" she definitely looked like a ball full of fun, her dress was bright yellow and slightly billowed around her, she was wearing a yellow headband and thankfully black shoes. It almost hurt to look at her and then I remembered her Porchse was the same colour and I had to hold back a laugh.

"Yeah Alice it will" I smiled, if only I had known.

It didn't take long for the party to get going and by 7 the house was full of happy party goers, Charlotte said she'd be back by midnight and was over at Carlisle and Esme's house. I danced around and spoke to people but most importantly I kept my eyes on Jasper. He was naturally charming and I'm pretty sure that killer smile of his made for a lot of wet panties. I briefly wondered again if he was still a virgin and blushed at the thought.

At around 8 I noticed that I hadn't seen Jasper in a while, I looked around and realised I couldn't see Alice either. I excused myself from the conversation I was having with Angela and Ben and began scouting the house for them.

At first I couldn't seem to find them so I tried to relax my nerves with a drink but that did nothing to help, I realised I hadn't really eaten today but the thought of Jasper missing got rid of my appetite. I knew that he probably wasn't in any real danger but that didn't stop me from being worried.

Jasper and Alice had now been missing for sometime now, I looked around again and I couldn't find them anywhere, I was getting worried and my palms were getting sweaty. My breathing got laboured as I rushed outside but they weren't there although there cars were still parked.

I rushed back inside and into the kitchen to look for Edward but I saw him in the corner with Amy and didn't want to interrupt them. I was panicking now and I didn't know what to do instead, I quickly rushed upstairs to check his bedroom the last place.

The door was already slightly open and I peeked in, there was a dim light as well that cast a glow over everything. At first I couldn't hear anything but the gentle strumming of a guitar caught my attention. The tune sounded familiar but I couldn't place it, at least not until he started singing.

_She was standing there_

_Dressed to the nines_

_Beautiful long hair_

_And she looked divine_

_I took a step towards her_

_And I thought she took one back_

_I told myself no sir_

_It's time my heart unpacked_

I backed away after that wondering, why he was playing it. I remembered that he had written it the morning we met Alice so it was unlikely the song was about her. I peeked back through the crack and stared intensely, eventually I made out Alice's shape leaning against his shoulder. I watched as he stopped playing and grabbed her hand kissing her knuckles and it knocked the breath out of me.

He raised his hand to her cheek and brushed his thumb over her lips, the look he was giving her was so loving and gentle and I wondered if he'd ever looked at me like that, especially when he was going to kiss me.

I felt the prickling of tears and blinked them away just as he leaned into kiss her, I turned away after that, I doubted I could take anymore of watching the two of them together like that. I felt like I was dying, I was honestly surprised my heart was still intact, it was beating so quickly I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

I went back down the stairs and plastered a smile on my face making easy conversation with people although I kept checking the stairs wondering why they weren't coming down.

2 minutes passed.

5 minutes.

10 minutes

When nearly 15 minutes had passed I saw Alice bound down the stairs, her yellow dress garnering people's attention, he walked behind her just as happy. I quickly turned my attention from them and tried to continue the strained conversation I was having with Mike.

"Bella!" Alice squealed in my ear, I internally groaned that she found me "I need to talk to you right now, come on" she grabbed my arm and rushed me out of the living room into the garden where it was surprisingly quiet.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked when we were out of ear shot.

"You won't believe it, Jasper asked me out, he wants me to be his Valentine!" she clapped her hands together and spun in a little circle "I couldn't believe it, I mean I've been crushing on him for months and I'm just so surprised he feels the same way"

"How do you know he's been crushing on you for months?" I asked defiantly.

"He practically said it, saying he's liked me for ages...it sounded really long term" then she sighed dreamily "Then I asked him to play me a song and he played this really beautiful one, I think he wrote it for me but I didn't ask him"

My head started to swim in that moment and my eyes got fuzzy like I was wearing glasses when I wasn't supposed too, my head began pounding and I felt as though I were about to be sick.

"Alice, I need to go in" I told her and began making my way back to the party.

"Okay Bella, see you later"

On my way in I happened to bang into Jasper who was coming outside, he steadied me with his arms and held me to him because I doubted I could stand up anymore.

"Bella, Bella what's wrong?" he asked concerned. His face so caring made me want to cry, a tear trickled down my face. He was hurting me, he was too close and so far away, he was... he was Jasper and I was confused. Something was off, something had changed but I didn't have the strength to fight it off anymore.

"Jasper" I whispered. "I think I'm going to pass out" and then I did.

xXx

When I awoke I was in my own bed, well my bed at Jaspers house, I was still in my dress but I guess whoever had brought me here was considerate enough to remove my shoes for me. I reflected over the last couple of hours trying to make sense of what was going on but when I did I started choking on sobs that were trying to push themselves out of my chest.

I couldn't believe it, he had asked her out, I mean I knew he said he would but I didn't expect it to happen so soon. I just...and now, they were something an item and I wasn't happy about it, in fact I hated it, I hated Alice for it because she was the root of all my problems. I rubbed my eyes vigorously before remembering I was wearing a shit load of make up.

I could barely hear the sounds of people talking but eventually realised it was just the gang that was left, all paired up and I was officially the fifth wheel.

I climbed out the bed and walked into the bathroom. The sight that I saw in the mirror scared me for a moment. My mascara was smeared giving me panda eyes, the eye shadow had been rubbed and was spread across the side of my face. My hair was a mess and looked like a hay stack. Little hair clips that were used to hold my hair in place were missing and just barely hanging on.

So that is why I started to laugh. The sound of my laughter reverberated around the bathroom, I was gasping for air but I couldn't stop. The laughter soon turned into sobs. Deep heart wrenching sobs that clenched at my heart and pained my chest. Tears dropped from my eyes like a waterfall and I cried freely. I cried for my hair that was a mess, I cried at my plain looks, I cried at how stupid I'd been, I cried at how weak I was but most of all I cried for the boy downstairs who would _never_ know how deeply my feelings for him ran.

Jasper Whitlock,

My First Best Friend,

My First Kiss,

My First Love...

**Bella has finally realised how much she loves Jasper but most of you probably already guessed that she was falling in love with him and when she fell in love with him. Plenty of Drama and Jealousy to come still so stay tuned.**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	29. Chapter 29

**I'm as surprised as you right now that I'm already updating but after the response I got to the last chapter I felt like I had to clear up a few things as well.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 29**

The first time I realised I loved Jasper was months ago, well only about 3 months ago, it was nearing the end of May and Jasper and Alice had been official for about 3 months as well. Realising I loved him was one thing, letting it come between us was another. At first I didn't know what to do with myself around him, if I hugged him when you should I let go and if I hugged him for too long would he know how I felt.

I helped him plan a romantic date for him and Alice for Valentine's Day no matter how much it killed me inside, he took her on a date to La Bella Italia, a really nice restaurant, really romantic. I helped him pick the flowers he'd give her and I helped her pick her outfit out so they'd match.

After that a swan boat ride where they could just stare at each other and do other things. I hated to think of them together but seeing them together was much worse, we'd all hang out together and they'd hold hands or he'd wrap an arm around her waist, nothing much but I die a little when it happens. At first I would excuse myself to the bathroom where I'd have a little cry, eventually I started carrying eye drops with me so that I could camouflage when I cried, it works extremely well so even when I cry sometimes my eyes no longer turn red.

I haven't told anyone, though I think Rose knows and if she knows then Emmet knows but I didn't dwell on that too much. It was getting too hard to be around Jasper and Alice, especially when they'd look at each other all gooey eyed and he'd whisper to her and she'd giggle. It's times like that I could literally hear my heart breaking and I'd make my excuses and leave.

The only good thing that's happened in the past month was that I bought a truck – with Charlie's help – but yeah I bought a truck. I got a job working at Mike's parents store and I made a decent amount of money, it was also a god excuse not to have to see them. I couldn't help but feel guilty when it came to Edward and Amy, I really did like them but because they usually hung around with Jasper and Alice, it meant I had to distance myself from them as well.

Occasionally I'd meet up with just the two of them and we'd talk but it was usually strained. I knew they were curious about what was going on with me but I was glad they never asked because what was I going to say _I'm in love with Jasper and every time I see him and Alice together I want to either cry or rip her hair out from the roots _because that would go down so well.

"So Bella, how have you really been? I'm worried about you, you've lost weight and you look really miserable"

"I'm fine Amy" I lied. It had become really easy to say that, an automated response.

"No you're not Bella and I know it has something to do with Jasper" she went on.

"No it doesn't" I said a little too quickly and a little too loudly "Sorry, I mean it doesn't have anything to do with Jasper"

"Don't lie to me Bella, please don't, how about this answer my question and I'll tell you something that's been playing on my mind about Edward"

"You go first" I said petulantly tugging on the end of my messy ponytail. We were currently sat in my bedroom, in our pyjamas having 'girl talk' as Amy put it.

"Fine" she sat back "I think Edward likes me"

"Of course, you're best friends, he has to like you" I sighed.

"No I mean, _like_ me" she huffed.

"Oh, well yeah you're a great girl, why wouldn't he" I paused thinking "How do you feel about him?" I asked.

"I don't know, confused, like I don't know how to say this"

"Just say it" I said coaxing her.

"A part of me likes Edward but a part of me likes..." she trailed off.

"Yes..."

"Girls" she whispered. That one word hung in the air around us.

"Oh, okay...well does Edward know?" I asked gently.

She looked up at me then and I could see the tears in her eyes as she shook her head "No, I can't, I don't know for sure and it's...what if he hates me or...or" she started hyperventilating.

"Hey, hey calm down" I said rubbing her back. "He won't hate you, just tell him how you feel or something and trust him okay, I promise you Edward won't care I mean he might freak out a little but... you I...you just need to trust me ok"

"I know" she sniffed "but what if it's just a phase and I ruin what could possibly be a really good relationship"

"Well if it's meant to be, it'll be but you need to tell Edward because if he has feelings for you, it's best to tell him because it'll hurt him less in the long run"

"Ok" she paused "Can we go buy some ice cream?" she asked.

"Sure, we can take my truck" I smiled.

"Oh no" she groaned but she was laughing and that's what was important. "But Bella, answer me one thing"

"Ok" I whispered.

"You love Jasper don't you" she stated. I nodded. "Don't worry, like you said if it's meant to be it will"

"I know" I sighed shrugging into an oversized sweatshirt.

"You also need to stop being such a door mat as well, Jasper hurt you and then he asked Alice out, asked your permission and asked you to help him! You're a human being Bella, with feelings, stressing yourself out like this isn't good, you're making yourself ill"

"I know, I just..." I sighed rubbing my hand over my Phoenix tattoo. Amy caught the notion. "I don't know why I keep doing this"

"It's comfortable or your just selfless, whatever it is, you won't be like this anymore. You got that tattoo for a reason Bella. Today you shall be reborn" she said dramatically.

"I can't wait for you to meet Rose, you'll love her"

"Well she sounds like a great person, now come on" she screamed grabbing my arm and leading me out the door, down the stairs to my truck.

The ice cream was really good.

xXx

I was in the living room slowly and gently strumming notes on my guitar feeling a lot better after yesterday. Amy had gone home this morning promising to tell Edward as soon as possible.

After she had left, I'd looked in the mirror and saw she was right, I had lost quite a bit of weight but it didn't matter because I was going to get better, I mean I obviously wasn't going to stuff myself till I puked, I might love Jasper but that didn't mean I had to bend over backwards to please him, it also didn't mean I had to be friends with Alice anymore because if I remember clearly she had told me they had no romantic feelings for each other then he asks her out and she tells me she's been crushing on him for months, what a bitch! I didn't have to put up with her anymore than I had to.

A loud knocking on the front door brought me out of my musings, I put my guitar down next to me and went to open the door, on the other side I saw Edward looking frantic, agitated and well panicked. Next thing I knew, he had barrelled into the house, closed the door and pushed me up against it right before his lips found mine. Instinctively I kissed him back, but I immediately pushed him away after coming to my senses.

"Edward, wha-what are you doing?" I panted.

"No Bella, not you too, tell me you're straight please" he begged.

"I am straight, what's gotten into you Edward?" I asked worried.

"I think there's something wrong with me Bella, I fell for Amy and I may not even get to have her, I mean oh God"

"Edward" I said warily. A new light went into his eyes, something in him had shifted and it was starting to scare me.

"Bella, be my girlfriend, please. We're perfect for each other, you're perfect for me, smart, beautiful, talented. Please Bella; I'm the one for you, you're the one for me" he begged.

"No...No I'm not Edward" I said wide eyed.

"Yes, yes you are Bella" he said trying to reason with me.

"Edward what happened?" I pleaded.

"Oh God Bella...oh God...it's horrible, I just...I can't" then he started to cry loud, deep sobs and at first I didn't know what to do but eventually I held him in my arms as he let it out before leading him to the living room.

"What happened Edward?" I whispered crouching in front of him and holding his hands in my own.

"Amy...she...she told me today that she might not be straight and that she's kind of confused and I love her Bella and it hurts so fucking much, I literally feel like someone has riped my heart out of my chest and stomped on in" he answered, his usually velvet voice hoarse. I knew Amy said she'd tell him soon but I didn't expect her to do it today but as they say they're no time like the present.

"What happened?" I asked.

"She came over like usual and we talked and everything and then she says there's something really important she has to tell me and I say I have something I need to tell her so I hold her hands and tell her I love her, she starts to cry and I don't know what to do so I hold her and everything and she says she loves me too but she doesn't know if she an love me the same way I love her because she may not be straight. I sit back and ask her what she means and she goes, I might not be straight and then she goes that's why she never accepted my advances because she didn't want to string me on. I started shouting something and she shouts back and says I want you to be happy, ther's lot's of other girls out there that would be perfect for me and I go you are perfect for me and she crys some more and leaves even though I begged her to stay and I don't know, I somehow managed to convince myself that you're perfect for me. I'm sorry for attacking you" he sighed.

"It's alright, oh Edward...how do you feel? Oh no that's a stupid question...I mean is there anything I can do for you?" I asked.

"Just stay with me maybe, talk to me"

"Okay, get comfortable, I'll get you some water" I said before heading to the kitchen. I didn't know that was how Edward would react, I knew he'd be upset but I really felt for him.

"Here" I said giving him the water, he downed it at once and put it on the coffee table. "How do you feel though about it, now?"

"I feel really upset and hurt and...I don't know really girly sitting here, talking about my feelings." He sighed.

"Go on" I urged.

"I just thought that all those months when she didn't get that I liked her was because she thought of me as a friend and it's worse because she said she has feelings for me but she doesn't want to string me along or something by accident" he raked a hand through his hair "I wish things could be easier, black and white with no shades of grey, that would be perfect"

"I know what you mean" I sighed dejectedly, sitting down next to him.

"Unrequited love sucks"

"Yeah" I whispered not surprised that Edward knew "At least you've got more of a chance than I do"

"Amy could be a lesbian" he argued.

"Jasper is in a relationship" I countered.

"But Amy's not certain remember"

"Let's just call a tie" I said and he nodded in agreement.

"How are _you_ Bella?" he asked.

"Better I guess" I answered, "I'm not going to be a doormat to Jasper anymore even if I do love him"

"Good on you Bella" he said sliding his arm round my shoulder. "Where's your dad?"

"He's on a fishing trip" I answered.

"You're going to be here alone"

"It's alright, he'll be home in a days" I said shrugging. "You however need to talk to Amy okay?"

"Okay, I'll go now then" he said standing. I led him to the door and hugged him goodbye before sitting back on the couch and grabbing my guitar going back to strumming. I don't know when but I did fall asleep, it was quite warm in the house so I was wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top.

xXx

"Fucking Christ" I heard a voice shout. I groaned out loud and rolled over in what I thought was my bed and landed on my face, on the ground. _What a great start to the morning _I thought sarcastically. I turned over onto my back and peered up and what I saw shocked me, Rosalie and Emmett hovered above me both wearing concerned expressions.

"Rose, Em" I smiled. I got up. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We came to surprise you Bells, Chief helped us arrange everything" Em boomed.

"That's gre-"

"Bella, what the hell, you're thinner than when I last saw you. I mean, I knew things were bad, but you didn't look this thin over webcam" Rose cried. "Why Bella, why?" I could only shrug in response.

"Nice to see you too Rosalie" I retorted.

"This is because of Jasper isn't it, you love him and you do all sorts of shit for him and he just...he goes ahead and goes out with a girl who pretended to be your friend, how can you forgive him for that?"

"Love" I whispered.

"It's true Rosie, I'd bend over backwards for you if it meant I could keep you in my life" Emmett said then he wrapped an arm round her shoulder, pulled her into him and kissed her on the side of the head.

"I know, I know it's just...Bella I'm scared for you, I mean when something gets on you mind it weighs there so heavily and causes you stress and everything. You feel things so strongly Bella and that's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just that Jasper is a douche who needs to open up his eyes and see you before you find someone who will" she sighed.

"You're a treasure Bella" Emmett continued for her "Don't ever let anyone make you second best and sometimes it'll be hard but you'll have to let go Bella, if it comes to such a point that you are dying let go Bella"

"How did Charlie not see this?" Rose asked shaking her head and sitting down on the couch.

"Usually I wear really baggy clothing at home so he wouldn't know if I've lost weight"

"And school?" she asked cocking her eyebrow.

"Jeans and long sleeved shirts with jackets on top" I answered.

"Seriously though what are we going to do about Jasper? And that Alice girl, I want to punch her lights out for hurting you and I want to pooch him as well for hurting you and for being blind, I mean I bet it's not entirely his fault" she sighed.

"What do you mean?" I asked sitting down on the coffee table.

"Well...before he used to be overly friendly and trying to kiss you and everything, he wants to ask you out but doesn't know how to go about it, enter Alice, she's says she's a girl and knows how girls minds works and he believes her, she then tells him you're not that into him and that you see him as a brother, he believes, then she becomes friends with you whilst whispering in his ear and he pulls away from you and eventually believes that he's falling for her or she makes him fall for her even though he still has feelings for you"

"Are you sure though?" I asked seeing how it would be possible. Alice is one of those people who will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

"Yeah, weren't you the one that told me she said she has no romantic feelings for him, then the night he asked her out she says she's fancied him for months, seems a bit two faced to me"

"Rose, this is why I love you. Body of a goddess, mouth of a sailor, brain of a genius" Emmett smiled and Rose actually blushed! I couldn't help but smile at how cute they were.

"This is what you are going to do Bella, at the moment you are way too available to Jasper, this makes him feel like he can have his cake and eat it too, therefore you need to make yourself unavailable and also irresistible" Rose smiled.

"How though, when I went to Phoenix I thought 'I'll come back brand new and different' that didn't work out" I sighed.

"Well this time Aunty Rose is here to guide you and I've come armed with weapons, go upstairs shower and everything, then we are going to march over to Jaspers house and you are going to-"

"I'm going to what Rose, say I love you but you hurt me and you're a bastard for that"

"No of course not, you're simply going to call him a bastard and you're going to tell him you're sick and tired of being a door mat to him and that you're not happy that he's going out with Alice-"

"You want me to give him an ultimatum? I could lose my best friend!" I shrieked.

"No you're going to say you're my best friend Jasper but I don't like Alice, you guys hurt me and then you did it again, I hate it and I need you to stay away from me because you're not the Jasper I know and he should call you when the real him comes back and then leave" she said.

"Do you really think that would work?" I asked uncertain.

"Well if you guys are as close as you say you are then yes it should work now go shower, I'll wait in your room and make you up" Rose asked.

"Yes sir boss lady" I said mock saluting before taking off up the stairs.

xXx

After about an hour of primping I was ready to go, I looked really good if I did say so myself and I felt really comfortable in what I was wearing which was a plus. As Emmett drove my truck and I gave directions I couldn't help but feel nervous about what I was about to do, I mean Jasper and I had been becoming friends again and he threw it away.

We go there and Emmett parked the truck, the plan was that they'd wait in the car and if it looked like I needed help Rose would come to the rescue. I knocked on the door and waited patiently, I had gotten my highlights re done about a week ago and I was wearing dark denim jeans, leather booths and a sweater dress in baby blue.

"Hello – oh hey Bella" Jasper said scratching the back of his head.

"I need to talk to you, it's really important"

"Oh, okay, shoot" he said leaning against the door frame which was mostly closed.

"I lied to you Jasper, when I told you I was okay with you and Alice, I lied, I'm not okay with it, you...you hurt me Jasper because you fooled around with Alice behind my back and then you've tried to rationalize it or something by asking my permission but that's the thing Jasper, you're my best friend, you're supposed to know me yet you didn't even realize that it literally _killed_ me to say yes but I did because you're friend and I love you Jazz-"

"Bell-"

"No let me finish" I said putting my hand up "I'm sick and tired of being a doormat to you Jasper, I'm a human being believe it or not with feelings and you keep taking advantage of that remember Jasper I don't do things for you because you control me but because you're my best friend and that's what a best friends supposed to do except you" I could feel my cheeks flushing with anger and when there's an angry Bella there's a teary Bella "You're such an ass hol-"

"Don't call him an ass hole" a voice said. The door flung open and there stood Alice, I didn't even know she was there "Don't call him an ass hole"

"The hell Jasper, what is she doing here, its morning and I can't believe you, why would you, go get Charlotte" I demanded he didn't seem to move so I had to shout "Can you get Charlotte"

"She's not in" he answered stunned

"Well go find her" I screamed.

He ran inside and got his keys and moved to his car before turning around "Do you want to come with me Bella?" he asked nervously.

"No" I answered coldly he went to his car, got in and drove away without replying.

"Bella" Alice sneered as soon as he was out of ear shot "Who do you think you are waltzing over here dressed like a fucking tart and saying 'oh I gave you permission because I care about you' well boo hoo, Bella, I won, he is _my _boyfriend and you need to except that"

"Why did you call Bella a tart Alice?" I turned around and saw Amy walking towards me "Why did you call Bella a tart?"

"Look at her" she sneered "She is a fucking tart"

"And you're not" I heard Rose retort.

"Who the hell are you?" Alice shrieked.

"Rosalie Hale pleased to smash your face in"

"Hah, I bet you're just another blonde-"

"Finish that sentence and see what I do to you _Alice_" Rose sneered.

"Bimbo" Alice said smirking "I knew it all talk and no" A loud slap reverberated. I gasped and looked over at Rose and saw that she was the one smirking now.

"You bitch, Bella what the hell is wrong with you, just because you love Jasper and can't have him you have to bring an army to attack me, you're such a whore" Amy kicked her then and she fell to the floor.

"Bella is worth ten of you Alice and Jasper will get out of this stupid spell you seem to have cast over him and he'll admit to Bella how much he loves her" Amy said leaning into her.

"He doesn't love her" Alice moaned.

"Yes he does but with you whispering all sorts of crap in his ear, it's made him doubt his feelings for her but trust me, he won't for long"

"Not if I have anything to about it"

"Is that a challenge Alice?" Rosalie sneered; she looked like a predator in that moment. Alice was wise to keep quiet.

We left after that, we dropped Amy at her house and went back to mine. Jasper would have found Alice and she would have given him some sob story, it was up to him now, he had to know we couldn't be close if he was with Alice.

I just hoped he'd pick me.

xXx

Emmett and Rosalie stayed for the rest of the weekend whilst Charlie was on his fishing trip, I got one text from Jasper saying I should call him but I ignored it, if he wanted to talk to me he could to my face.

Alice was so two faced, to Jasper she's putting up the front of the perfect girlfriend when really she's evil like a wolf in sheep's clothing. I didn't know what to do to expose her, Jasper had to see what she was really like I decided it was the only way. Rose helped me to try and think of a bunch of schemes but none of them really seemed plausible, the only thing that would probably work would be to expose her in front of him or on a tape. I went back to school as usual, two weeks passed with simple mundane things happening.

I dressed nicer and took more care in my presentation like Rose said, I also said no to Jasper sometimes as well.

Edward asked out Amy she said no just in case she turned out to be a lesbian.

He said he didn't care and bugged her until she said yes.

She cracked at 3 in the morning after he climbed into her bedroom window.

Mike and Jessica broke up and got back together.

I found out Charlie had a girlfriend Sue Clearwater a widow on the reserve, I remembered that she had two kids Seth and Leah, Seth was like 15 and Leah was probably about 18 or 19. I was having a hard time accepting it although it was fun watching him squirm when he was making up excuses so he could go on dates with her.

Another two weeks passed, I dedicated most of my time to studying and music as well as scheming because let's face it, even if Jasper didn't love me I didn't want him to do something stupid like sticking his dick inside Alice without a glove and getting her pregnant. He'd be screwed for life.

Alice had it out for me, at every opportunity she could, she'd try and exclude me and it was pissing me off, the worst part was there was nothing I could do about it. She was always coming up with ideas for double dates so her, Jasper, Edward and Amy then she'd go oh sorry Bella, it's just that you haven't got a boyfriend, then she'll turn on the fake sympathy and Jasper will stroke her cheek and I'll go I have to work that night or I have an essay to write.

Amy would always try to get out of it, knowing how Alice really is but I told her she should go to spend time with Edward. Those weren't her only ideas, there were couples charades where she'd invite other couples like Angela and Ben, Jess and Mike, Lauren and Tyler but I couldn't go because I wasn't in a couple.

I had attempted a couple of ideas to try and catch Alice out but Jasper always unknowingly foiled all of them, it was like he subconsciously knew what I was planning and was in denial or something, I guess he wanted a perfect relationship so badly that he was willing to go to extreme measures.

Two months went by mostly without incident except for the fact that I seemed to be getting more and more irritable and I seemed to still be losing weight. I couldn't sleep at night so I would draw and that would go towards getting me extra credit so it was a win win situation except I was tired during the day which would mean I'd drink a can of boost every hour or so, the down side was they caused my hands to shake a lot because it got me hyper but soon enough it was the summer holidays again.

The first week of the holidays I felt quite sad and miserable and just sad really, I didn't know why. I reckoned it was due to frustration at the fact that Alice and Jasper were still together, Alice never slipped up, it was like she knew I was trying to record her saying something that would cause Jasper to leave her. Jasper on the other hand, we'd talk sometimes but it would usually end with him saying 'I don't get why you don't approve of the relationship Alice and I have' and I'd reply with 'You can't have your cake and eat it too'. He was incorrigible, I didn't tell him Alice was a psycho pixie bitch who had manipulated him into going out with her but I did tell him looks can be deceiving. I was actually getting worried that he may pick her over me.

My feelings for Jasper I would've thought that the feelings would lessen but it didn't, instead it seemed to grow, which in turn would bring me down. It was a crazy cycle but at least I wasn't a door mat anymore and that was one thing I was thankful for.

The second week of the holiday, I was lying in bed miserable as usual, Alice was having a little get together and I was excluded yet again at least Jasper had tried to get her to let me come but her reply was 'She's not in a couple' and since it was being hosted at her house, she won the argument.

It wasn't like I wanted to come.

I wasn't really expecting to do anything today, maybe draw or play the guitar a little. Some laundry and cleaning the house, not interesting but it was something when I heard heavy footsteps walking up the stairs and coming in the direction of my room. I rolled my eyes and turned over pretending to be asleep.

"Isabella Swan get up" came Charlie's gruff voice. I buried myself deeper into the covers. "See she doesn't do anything for over a week and look at how thin she's gotten" I couldn't think who he could be talking to.

"Oh Bella sweetie" came Renee's voice, I was shocked; he was so worried that he'd flown her in "What is going on? What have they done to you?" she crooned.

I rolled over then and she gasped eyes going wide "I'm fine mum, nothing's wrong, I promise"

"Bella, you look so ill, no, what happened, Charlie what happened?" came her panicked voice.

"I don't know she's been like this for about a month but before she was losing weight and gaining it back, the last time she'd lost quite a bit was before she went off to you for the summer and when she came back she looked healthier"

"What triggered it?" she asked brushing a stray hair and tucking it behind my ear whilst I watched their interaction silently.

"Jasper I think, they were going through some problems and it was stressing her out badly" came Charlie's response.

"Oh sweetheart, if you want, you can come to Jacksonville with me, you've always got a home with me, no matter what"

"Maybe you're right Renee, Bella you should move in with your mother because it's killing me to watch you do this to yourself, you haven't left the house, you've cleaned though but I never see you eat although you say you do. Before school broke out, you would usually come straight home and you hardly ever went out"

"No please" I begged "I do eat, I really do" My hands began shaking badly "Please dad I'll try, I'll go out, I've just been tired these days please dad, don't send me away"

"Bella, I don't want to watch you stay here and starve yourself to death" I could hear the tears in his voice. "Alice tells me how you don't eat in school and how you confided in her that you hardly eat either" I should have known she had something to do with this, I didn't know why I'd lost weight, I reckoned it could be dehydration and I'd just lost water weight or stress but I wasn't starving myself.

"I'm not dad, I won't...I do eat, I'm not starving myself I swear I eat, please dad I'm begging you" I cried.

We came to a compromise after that, I would eat with Charlie from now on so I could prove I was eating, I was to go out as well and enjoy myself. Renee went home the next day still reminding me that whenever I wanted I could go home with her. I promised her I'd think about it when all I was thinking about was how to get revenge on Alice she was really desperate to get rid of me.

xXx

September came around and I came back to school refreshed, Charlie was happy that I looked healthier but that was only because I started taking vitamins and drinking more water. My skin always felt great and I felt great as well.

I was still quite thin but I covered it well enough because truth be told, I had no clue what was wrong with me, I hadn't been to the doctors in a while and I didn't see any reason to. The only down side was that I still found it hard to sleep and my hands still shook really badly and sometimes I got extremely irritable for no reasons. I'd always apologise afterwards but it still baffled me.

Another new thing was that sometimes after eating I'd throw up, at first I thought it was food poisoning, Charlie thought so too at least I thought he did until I found a pregnancy test on my bed and a note that said just in case. I couldn't look Charlie in the eye for at least a week.

My periods had gotten irregular as well sometimes they were normal and would last 4-5 days and sometimes they were really light and would last about 2-3 days. I put it down to stress as because I remember reading somewhere that stress caused periods to stop. Some days I'd wake up extremely weak and have to stay home from school because I was just too tired to move Charlie would tell me to go to the Doctor's but I hated Hospitals with a passion and I was sure it was nothing.

I had also decided to take a different route when it came to Jasper and Alice, I would pretend to be really happy for the, it pissed Alice off and that in turn made me smile. Currently I was sat in Art class and Miss Rainbow was setting us an assignment. Basically we have to draw and paint two opposites pictures but the two pictures also had to blend into one picture, at first I was going to paint a sunset on one half of the sheet and sunrise on the other until I came up with a much better idea. I was sure a lot of people were stumped though; they were due in November 10th so we had almost 3 months to get them done.

Rose and I had finally come up with a plan to expose Alice and this project would make it possible, this would probably be the only time I'd ever be happy to have to draw Jasper and Alice as a couple.

The succubus and the cowboy.

**This chapter kind of dragged on a bit but it's for a reason, thanks for sticking with me so far, tell me what you think.**


	30. Chapter 30

**So another chapter, not much to say right now except than you for sticking with me this far and thank you to everyone who has reviewed, added this story to alert or favourites.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 30**

_**November**_

"Bella are you sure it'll work this time?" Rose asked over the phone.

"No, but we need to try, I'm getting sick of Alice's smug smiles at me likes she's won or something, the only problem is that her game night would be the perfect opportunity but I haven't got a partner" I groaned.

"You should have punched her while you had the chance you know" Rose said gloating a little; I could practically see her smirk.

"I know" I sighed.

"Bella, do you think that maybe you should, I don't know get over Jasper, he seems like a lot of effort and is he even really worth it?" Rose asked.

"He is, I mean he will be, it's just Alice is feeding him lies and everything and is manipulating him, he'll be my Jasper again once we've removed her" I said.

"But what if this is how he really is Bella? She didn't force him to change"

"She encouraged it though, she's part of it, he wasn't like this until she came here and ruined everything" the line was silent for a moment and I thought I'd lost her until I heard her sigh.

"I just don't like to see you hurt Bella, you're like my sister and I love you and I hate to see you pining over this guy like this, maybe you should, I don't know, try dating, you might have more luck this time"

"Maybe, but it feels like I'm cheating on Jasper or something, like I'm betraying him" I whispered.

"Yeah but he's doing God knows what with Alice" she countered.

"You're right maybe, I have to finish getting ready" I sighed.

"I can't believe Charlie finally admitted it to you" she laughed "Now it's time to meet your future step siblings"

"Yeah, yeah laugh it up. I remember meeting them years ago like before I met Jasper, Seth was nice, Leah wasn't as welcoming" I said.

"Well good luck" we said our goodbyes and hung up. I grabbed my phone and went downstairs to meet Charlie. He looked extremely nervous for some reason; he was dressed in what was probably the only suit he owned.

"Got everything Bells?" he asked tugging at the collar of his shirt.

"Yeah Dad" I followed him out the door to the cruiser, I sighed despondently, what a way to make an entrance.

The ride to La Push was spent in silence which wasn't awkward, I kept glancing over at him periodically to see he was either shaking his knee or tapping the steering wheel. We pulled up soon enough to a nice looking house with a blue door. Charlie parked the car and we went to knock but before we could it was opened by a young looking boy who I assumed was Seth.

"Hey you're here" he smiled "Mum's just finished setting the table so we can start eating in a few, follow me" This was probably the first time I'd ever been in the house as far as I could remember. when you enter the house, the stairs are right ahead of you, on the right is a small hallway that leads through to the living room, through the living room on one side was a doorway that led to the kitchen and another door which led to the dining room, the dining room and kitchen had a connecting door and both had access to the garden.

It was a really nice house and had a really cosy feeling to it; I was sat next to Seth at the moment whilst he tried to teach me how to play some video game. I was getting it but I was having fun trying. Sue chose that moment to come through from the kitchen; she was beaming as was Charlie. I could see why he liked her, she was pretty and had a motherly look to her and the fact she could cook was a plus, so at least I knew when I went off to college Charlie wouldn't starve.

"Hello Bella, I'm glad to finally meet you. I've heard some wonderful things about you and I'd love to see one of your drawings one day, Charlie says there amazing" she gushed to me.

"Yeah...um of course, it's lovely to meet you too Mrs Clearwater, you have a really nice home" I blushed.

"Oh Bella" she laughed "Please call me Sue, Mrs Clearwaters so formal"

"Okay...Sue" I smiled.

"Dinners ready, take a seat everyone" Sue said clapping her hands together. Seth practically sprinted to the dining room and took his seat before everyone else. We said grace and dug in, I practically moaned when Sue's casserole hit my mouth, it was delicious and I knew I just had to get the recipe. Conversation flowed quite easily, Leah wasn't overly friendly but at least she wasn't down right mean.

"So Bella" Sue started "Your dad tells me you play guitar and sing"

"Yeah, it's more of a hobby than something I'd want to pursue a career in" I answered.

"Really well you have to play for us one day, there's going to be a bonfire down in La Push tonight, I'm sure that someone will have a guitar and you can play something" she suggested taking a bite of her salad.

"That would be nice" I smiled.

"Jacob and his sisters are in town at the moment, I'm sure they've missed you" she sighed.

"Yeah, I haven't seen Jake in years" I paused "Is he still with Vanessa?"

"Yeah, they're engaged actually but he's in town alone, she's visiting some relatives"

"That's nice" I said and we continued eating, we made plans for them to come over to our house for dinner next we so I could cook for them, and then we left so I could go home and change for the bonfire.

"Did you have a good time Bells?" Charlie asked glancing at me sideways.

"Yeah, they were really nice, I can see why you like Sue" I said honestly.

"I'm glad" the drive home was relatively short, I went upstairs, changed and we drove back. The plan was that I'd go to La Push with Leah and Seth and Charlie would stay with Sue at the house.

I didn't want to think of what they could be up to.

The distance from the house to the beach was quite small so we opted to walk there instead, Seth and I chatted amiably while Leah walked silently ahead of us. I was tempted to ask Seth what was up with her but I was slightly afraid she's bite my head off and I'm not sure about most people but I like having a head.

By the time we'd got to the beach, the bonfire was already in swing, there were people gathered around a rather impressive fire, whilst some people had ventured out a bit and were hanging around near the coast or father down. I looked around seeing if there was anyone I'd recognise but in the dark I couldn't really pick anyone out.

Seth led me over to a group of boys who were hollering and laughing near the fire, it made me smile to see them so care free and happy and I honestly wished I could be like that one day. The closer we got to them, the more my nerves increased and my hands began shaking uncontrollably, Seth reached out and gave one of my hands a reassuring squeeze whilst shooting me a comforting smile. If Sue and Charlie got married, I wouldn't mind having him as a little brother, actually, I'd rather like it seeing as how I don't have a brother.

"Hey guys" Seth said to the group, they instantly became silent once they noticed me standing behind him "Remember Bella Swan?" he shot out. This had them murmuring followed by a chorus of hellos and some introductions, I smiled and went along with it.

"No way it is Bella" someone bellowed. A figure stood up and it didn't take me long to recognise him "Remember me?" Jacob smiled.

"Jake" I squealed. He walked over to me and enveloped me in a hug; he actually lifted me off my feet.

"Nice to see you two Bells, wow have you grown. I haven't seen you since you were what, 6 so you're like 17 now"

"Yeah" I said nodding my head. "How have you been, did you get that auto shop started like you wanted?" I asked as he led me away from the group.

"I can't believe you remember that" he laughed scratching his neck "but yeah I did up in Seattle, how's school?"

"Alright" I shrugged "How's Vanessa, Sue said she's visiting some relatives?"

"Yeah, I'm actually flying down to see her in about 3 days" he paused "Maybe we could hang out before then and do something like old times"

"I'd like that Jake" I smiled "Actually this girl I know, she's having this game night thing at her boyfriend's house tomorrow around 6 and I wasn't going to go because I don't have a partner"

"That sounds like fun Bella, now come on" he said throwing an arm around my shoulder "How have you been over the years?" and soon we were off talking about everything we've done over the years, when he found out I could play guitar, he dragged me back to the bonfire and made me play some songs, it turned into a real camp out with everyone singing classic songs. I had so much fun that night and I was going to have even more fun after the surprise I was going to play on Alice at her game night. The only thing was I felt bad using Jacob because it was my fight but I would always be grateful to him for being the reason I could go.

xXx

I took my time getting ready the next day, I put on make up and did my hair as nicely as I could but I wanted it to look as casual as possible. I considered wearing a skirt but decided I was taking it a bit too far and settled for some jeans instead. I grabbed my painting and threw a sheet over the top of it.

The door rang and I ran downstairs to go answer it holding the painting, Jake stood there dressed in a button down and a pair of dark wash jeans. His short hair in spikes. He looked really nice.

"Ready to go?" he asked. I nodded grabbing my jacket and he led me to his car. When we were in and settled he started the car but turned to me briefly. "You look really good Bella, I always knew you'd grow up to be a heart breaker" I blushed at the compliment and ducked my head.

"So where exactly are we going?" he asked and I began giving him directions to Jaspers house.

"What car is this exactly?" I asked nervously, worrying my hands.

"It is a Rabbit, I restored it" he said beaming proudly.

"Really, wow that must have been hard"

"Yeah a bit but it was a lot of fun" he reached over and squeezed my hand "I'm glad I got to see you again Bells, it's been so long"

"It has" I punched his arm "You should come home more often"

"Sure, sure" came his standard remark as well as his cheeky grin.

We pulled up soon to Jasper's house and Jacob parked the car in the drive. We got out and I knocked on the door and we waited patiently for someone to answer it. I saw Edward's Volvo, so I assumed that Edward and Amy where already here. Alice's yellow Porsche was nowhere to be seen but knowing her she was already here.

"Hey Bella" Amy said stepping forward to pull me in to a hug.

"Hey, Amy this is Jacob, Jacob this is Amy" I said making the introductions.

"Hey" he said shaking her outstretched arm.

"Hi, everyone's inside, Alice is going to shit a brick when she realises that you're here" Amy giggled going to the living room. Jacob and I followed slowly behind. When we got to the living room all conversation stopped and Alice's mouth dropped open.

"Hey guys this is Jacob, Jacob this is Jasper, Edward and of course Alice, say hi guys" I said smiling.

Edward was the only one that did.

Jasper looked beyond angry like I'd done something wrong by bringing Jacob and Alice looked Angry probably because I was there. I didn't get him, he kept sending me mixed signals and it was actually irritating me.

Alice quickly recovered and greeted Jacob before we set up a board for monopoly. I ended up getting seated between Jacob and Jasper and the tension between them was daunting. Jake had tried to speak to Jasper but he was being downright rude for some reason and when I'd asked him what his problem was he wouldn't even give me a straight forward answer simply murmuring something about how he's not good enough for me and that he doesn't trust him.

I got out of the game quickly enough and it came down to Edward and Jasper, Alice sat there watching them whilst the Jake, me and Amy sat in the living room talking. They were there for another 30 minutes.

Edward won.

Jasper punched him.

Edward put him in a headlock.

It was the first time Jasper smiled all evening and it made me happy to see him like that. Jake's phone rang and he went to answer it in the hall.

"So Bella" Amy whispered "How do you know Jacob, is he your boyfriend or something?

"No, I knew him when I was little, he'd look after me when Charlie couldn't and we'd go down to La Push or something, it was lot's of fun" I answered.

"Really, so what-"

"Bella" Jake said touching my arm "I'm really sorry, but I'm gonna have to bail on you, my dad needs my help, I'm really sorry Bella"

"Hey, it's alright, I'll hitch a lift with someone, give Billy my best"

"Ok see ya"

"Bye"

I walked him to the door and watched him drive off, and then I watched him drive back and get out of the car clutching...my painting! I couldn't believe I'd forgotten about it.

"Here" he said handing it to me.

"Thanks"

I went back into the house holding the painting not knowing how to carry out my plan.

"Bella what you got there?" Alice chirped coming towards me. I couldn't believe she was giving me the perfect opening.

"Oh nothing, just my painting for class"

"Ooh let's see" she squealed.

"No I couldn't" I said turning it away from her.

"Oh come on please" she begged.

"Fine" I said smiling.

Everyone gathered in the living room and sat down whilst I stood in front of them holding the painting.

"Basically for my opposites I've decided to choose people. The people I chose are very close to me and are Alice and Jasper" I said gesturing towards them. "Jasper is tall, Alice is short. Jasper has blonde hair and Alice has black hair. Jasper is day and Alice is night." I could feel myself getting angrier and angrier. "Jasper is good and Alice is a soul sucking, manipulating, harpy" and with a flourish, I removed the sheet covering the painting.

"The picture shows Jasper as a good loving southern cow boy always willing to lend a helping hand. He is trusting and reliable. Here it shows Alice as a succubus disguised as a person whispering in his ear lies. My original idea was to draw Alice as a pixie but I decided that this was more fitting of her personality"

They all sat there with different expression on their faces, Amy was grinning so wide I was afraid it'd split her face in two, Edward was shocked as Jasper but Alice looked pissed.

"What the hell is you're problem Bella? You're calling me a soul sucking harpy well look at you, you could pass as a concentration camp victim." She grabbed a lock of my hair "Your hair is brittle and disgusting, you're only doing this because you're jealous of me"

"Jealous of you, you wish" I retorted. I looked out the window and sighed, it had started raining again.

"Yeah sure you're not you little tart, you wished it was you going out with Jasper but it wasn't it was me and now you hate me because I had him. Look Jasper, didn't I tell you she'd do something like this? I told you she was jealous" Alice said in an overly innocent voice.

"Bella what, what do you mean?" Jasper asked nervously.

"Jasper can't you see, she was manipulating you, lying, every thing was a lie Jazz to tear us apart because for some reason she hates me. You're my best friend Jazz; please believe me Jazz, please." I placed my hands on his cheeks.

"Bella" he held my wrists in his hands.

"Break up with her, she's nuts Jazz, please, she's evil Jasper, evil"

"Bella, we don't-"

"You're such a bitch Bella" Alice interjected. "You claim to be his best friend yet you can't even be happy when he's in love. We're in love Bella, we're in love" she screamed.

Jasper dropped his hands from my wrists and I could feel my eyes starting to tear up, he walked over to Alice and put his hands on her shoulders leaning down to her face. "Alice what the hell-"she grabbed his face and crushed her lips to his.

He pulled away from her and turned to look at me, his eyes shining and panicked. "Edward why don't you drive Bella home?" he suggested "And we can talk tomorrow"

"What the hell Jasper, are you not listening to what I'm saying, she lied to you to ruin our friendship or whatever sick motive she had and you're taking her side."

"Says the girl who's starving herself to death. Losing weight isn't going to make him what you anymore honey; he wants curves and tits like mine not a chest of a nine year old like yours"

"Alice!" he growled. "Bella let Edward take you home and we'll talk tomorrow" he grabbed my hands in his "You're shaking" he whispered.

"Choose me Jazz, let's speak now, and send her home. I'm begging you Jasper."

"It was my mum who brought her here"

"Then let Edward take her home, Charlotte wouldn't mind if I spent the night" I pleaded.

"Bella, calm down, you need to calm down and breathe and I really think Edward should take you home now."

"Why don't you?"

"I don't think I'm in any shape to drive a car at the moment" I didn't understand, his mood seemed quite steady; I didn't live too far by car.

"Yeah Bella, there are some things we need to do" Alice smirked and then she stood right next to him and cupped his cock right through his jeans and _squeezed_. I turned my face away disgusted and in a voice calmer than I thought I could manage I said.

"I can see I'm not wanted here"

"Bella it's not like-"I put my hand up silencing him.

"I'm going home now Jasper, no need for Edward to drop me" I sneered running upstairs to pack any important things I may have left there before briefly checking the laundry room and leaving.

I didn't even glance in the living room either, I heard no one speaking but as I walked out the house it exploded in shouts.

I couldn't believe Jasper had taken her side in the argument, I mean how could he, he's my best friend, I love him more than she ever could yet I was the one who became the outcast. It was just the two of us at first and things were good like that, then Alice came, then Edward and Amy. It was all Alice's fault though, if she didn't move here things would be even, Jasper and me, Edward and Amy yet it wasn't and it never will be.

This reminded me of Cinderella strangely and that part in the movie when she's saying 'I will not cry, I will not cry' That was all I could think of in there, I would not cry in front of them, I would not break down in front of that evil wench. I really did hate _Alice_, she ruined everything, she came along and destroyed everything.

I stormed away from the house trying to get as far away from them as I could. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to leave, I just had to, it seemed as though I were constantly in pain because of him and I was sick of it. It was as though they were trying to torture me, like they took some sick pleasure in watching me break down. I'd call my mum, book tickets, tell Charlie and leave.

It was raining like it always did in Forks but this time I felt an impending doom, almost as though something were going to happen something bad and I wasn't happy about it. No, it terrified me and since I had no idea what it was, that made it a surprise.

_I hate surprises_

I was so caught up in storming home that I didn't hear the fast approaching footsteps behind me until I felt the pleasurable electricity that accompanied Jaspers touch course through me.

"What's wrong with you Bells? I said Edward should take you home and here you are walking. Why won't you stop? Why are you starving yourself? Why Bella please answer me." Jasper shouted at me. His eyes were blazing and I could barely see his pupils as his eyes had turned a dangerous onyx colour.

As we stood there in the pouring rain, I knew it. It was now or never, if I didn't say it I would either implode or drive myself insane. The pain around my heart was killing me, tearing it to shreds. There were chains holding it. I could imagine them wrapped around my heart, stopping it from beating, a lock on the front protecting the secret inside. Guarding it for its rightful owner. Jasper was the key to my heart; he was the only one who could set me free. Words came into my head in that second...

_I keep on falling,_

_You fall for her more,_

_Every time I try to get back up,_

_You give me one more reason to keep on falling down_

Song lyrics, I could hear the tune in my head. It was true Jasper was killing me sucking up any strength I had. Draining me, I was slowly dying I knew it well at least I knew something was wrong with me, but Jasper was killing my sanity. It was his fault though, if I had never met him, if he had never become my friend I wouldn't be like this. I'd be normal. I would be able to love a guy and know he loved me back.

He'd ruined me for other men but the sad thing is, the sad, psychotic, sickening thing is I didn't care. It wouldn't change a thing, anytime I got to spend with Jasper was enough for me. I didn't care that it was Alice who was in his head when he woke up in the morning, it was Alice who made him sleep with a smile or that it was Alice who featured in his dreams. I didn't care because it was us. Jasper and Isabella. Jasper and Bella. Jazz and Bells. Jazebel. We were a team. Together through it all. I was his number one girl, he said so. We're a team, aren't we?

He promised to protect me. He could too, if any guy tried to hurt me, he'd put them in hospital, any guy who didn't treat me right he'd do something about it. He promised to never hurt me. He could protect me from anyone who did but he couldn't protect me from himself. When I saw him and Alice together it hurt me, when I saw him it hurt because he would never be mine and I would never be his.

No that was wrong, I was his, and I'd been his ever since that day in the grocery store, ever since he whispered my name. I didn't know what hurt me more when he was near me or when he was away. Either way he hurt me, it was like I was running around in a circle or I was lost in a maze with no way out.

Every thing made sense now; Grandma knew this would happen, Claire knew I loved him before I did. I remembered the wish I made that night on the laundry floor.

_Give me the courage to be brave and let go. Give me the strength to save myself before I self destruct._

I didn't understand why I'd make a wish like that but I knew now. If Jasper didn't love me back it'd kill me. I knew not every thing would be smooth sailing, we'd have our few shares of bumps but we'd be perfect together. Love is enough isn't it? Even if he didn't love me I could love him enough for the two of us. My thoughts had turned insane and all I could think about was that it was Alice's fault. I knew him longer, loved him longer. He was mine first. She broke the girl's code. She pretended to be my friend just so that she could steal Jasper from under my nose. That bitch! In that second I hated her almost as much as I hated him but I couldn't hate him. Which made me want to hate him more, but I couldn't so I hated Alice more.

It was sick this wasn't right. He had so much power over me it was unbelievable. I didn't remember relinquishing myself to him. He could have any piece of me he wanted. He already had my heart and if he wanted he could have my body and soul too. I'd give it to him on a silver, no a golden platter. He was my love, my addiction, my obsession, my sickness. I would do anything that would make him happy even dying. I was thin and probably starving myself to death but he was the only reason I would even try to get better, to try to live. I used to say life was a gift but now I just didn't have the will to live anymore. Nothing was working. Nothing was worth it.

Except him.

"Bella, you're here starving yourself, somedays I can't even look at you because I'm scared one day I'll wake up and you won't, can't you see you're ruining your life?" Jasper shouted at me after I failed to answer him before.

"Yes, yes I know. Maybe I want to ruin my life!" I shouted at him moving away.

"You're single handily hurting everyone around you. How can you live with yourself?" he was going for the guilt but the truth was I couldn't live with myself, I couldn't live without him yet I had to be without him if I had any chance at a life. I didn't deserve life, I didn't want a life that didn't have him in it, but would a life without him be better than a life where I was with him but suffered because he wasn't mine. "Have you even thought about Charlie? You're all he has."

"I can't...I just can't, anymore Jasper, it's too much...I just, I can't" I mumbled sounding insane even to my own ears.

"What are you talking about Bells? I don't understand" he whispered sadly, he wasn't expecting a reply but I answered him anyway

"I don't know, I just couldn't stand...shouting...all the time...I couldn't" I whispered, my eyes widening at the confusion my mind was. I fell to my knees in the pouring rain but I didn't care that I was getting soaked, it was like when I caught Jasper and Alice kissing all those months ago except now Jasper was here with me.

"Bella, Bella please get up" Jasper said as he pulled me up.

He pulled me to his chest and hugged me. I broke free and stood looking at him, staring right at him.

"You're hurting me!" I screamed. "You promised me you'd never hurt me but your always hurting me, everyday and you don't even know it" I finished sadly.

"What are you talking about Bella?" he begged.

"You broke your promise again, you broke it again Jasper" I coughed out.

"Bella please, what promise? Tell me, speak to me" he pleaded reaching a hand out to me. My hair was clinging to my face and my nose was probably red. I was sure I was going to get ill after this but this time I just, I just didn't care.

"What's wrong with you Bells? Tell me please, I just want to take away all your hurt, I want to make up for being such a shit friend but you have to let me help you Bella" he whispered sadly. Everything seemed to freeze; it was like the rain even stopped. I knew what was wrong with me. Him. Jasper. I had never wanted him more than I did in this moment. Memories flashed in front of my face. Meeting him, playing guitar, our first kiss, the first time he ever told me he loved me. It was my fault; I let the chance go by. He had told me he loved me that night in Lithuanian. Or was he just saying that he loved me like a best friend. I was so confused my heart was clenching, my ears were ringing and I knew what I had to do.

"I...I love you" I whispered brokenly. "I love you so much and you don't even see me Jazz, I would wish that you would open your eyes and see me, and love me but you...you don't and you never will and I'm...I'm tired of hurting Jasper, I'm human and I have feelings and I can't be with you anymore not as you're friend, enemy or lover, my life is constantly consumed with you, helping you, trying to get your attention but you just don't see me Jasper, you never do and you and Alice in love, I can't stay and watch that Jasper not anymore" I cried.

I felt free for once and in that moment I felt a rush of adrenaline go through me. I grabbed Jasper's face and crushed my lips to his. They moulded together as though they were meant to be. My hands tangled in his hair and his wrapped around my waist pulling me tightly to him. The jolt of electricity that only Jasper could ignite in me passed through my bones, touching every nerve ending, causing a line of goose bumps to form on my arm. I could feel it every where in side me bringing me back to life, filling me with _hope._ I put everything I had into that kiss. I showed him everything in that kiss, everything I felt for him and prayed he felt something anything to give me hope.

I separated myself from him and looked at him knowing that the next few words could fix me or destroy my already broken heart. He looked so anguished it was unbelievable.

"Bella...I-" Jasper began "I'm sorry-"I cut him off. I didn't want to hear him rejecting me; I just knew that it would be the final nail in my coffin.

"No, no, no" I repeated over and over again shaking my head as I backed away. "I need to go Jasper, I have to go home" he reached out for me but I moved out of reach "Go away! Leave me alone! I can't have you in my life because you will be my downfall" I screamed.

"Bella, please" he begged but as much as it hurt me to see him in pain, I was hurting too.

"Go back to Alice Jasper, forget about me. Just like you always do, just...just leave, just go." I shrieked.

"No, you know that's not true...Bella-" he tried again but I cut him off.

"Just go back to fucking Alice like I know you do, I'm just the second thought or the one you go to drown your sorrow's in, I'm sick of you using me and I'm sick of loving you" I screeched. I knew I was over reacting but it was a defence mechanism; lash out so he couldn't see what he'd done to me.

"Bell-"I screamed as he tried to touch me and started shaking my head. I turned around and ran away. I could hear Jasper shouting for me to come back but I never heard his footsteps. If he ran after me, he would have caught me by now but he didn't.

_He doesn't love you Bella, he never did_

I thought this thought over and over again to myself as I ran in a line. Going in the direction I thought would lead me home. The darkness was scary and suffocating but I couldn't bring myself to stop and rest or to turn back.

xXx

I awoke to find someone lifting my eyelid and flashing a light into my eye. I winced and closed them trying to turn around. I heard someone say she's awake before I drifted back to sleep again. I awoke a while later to a dark room. I heard a light snoring sound and turned to see Edward sitting in a chair. It was entirely too small for him and he looked incredibly uncomfortable lying there but he did it for me. I heard him snore and grunt as he tried to turn.

"Edward...Edward" I said groggily into the darkness

"Wha- what, Bella?" he asked incredulously after his eyes had adjusted to the darkness.

"Edward" I sighed in relief the tears welling up in my eyes at the memory. "What's going on?"

"I was had dropped Amy off at her house and was driving home and found you unconscious on the ground, you were freezing and your clothes were soaked through, your pulse was extremely weak so I brought you here" he answered. "How are you? Do you hurt anywhere?" he asked concerned.

"I'm really weak and a little hungry but nothing I can't deal with. Do you want to stay in here with me; you look kind of uncomfortable over there?" I said managing a weak smile.

"Are you sure?" he asked still concerned about me though you could see how tempted he was to lie down.

"Sure. Get in." I replied. I scooted over on the bed making room and pulled the covers back. Edward laid down and wrapped his arm round my waist.

"Edward" I whispered into the darkness.

"Yeah?" he answered sleepily.

"He doesn't love me you know, we were wrong, he never did" I whispered sadly.

In response he held me a little tighter and kissed my forehead, whispering comforting words, after a while he began to sing to me, the words sounded blurred as though I was hearing them from far away however it was soothing and I found myself drifting off to sleep plus he was extremely warm and that helped a great deal.

With one more heaving sigh, I gave into the broken dreams and memories.

xXx

"Excuse me you can't be in there!" I heard a voice shriek. A sudden movement and I heard a thump against the ground, there was a sudden breeze so I assumed it was Edward the voice had been addressing. I squeezed my eyes shut tighter and groaned as I felt a pounding in my head. I flipped over onto my side and lay there until the voices faded away to nothingness and I was asleep once again.

xXx

"...quite thin, that's definitely a reason. Her clothes were soaked through so she fared better than I thought she would. Her stress levels are quite high although her blood sugar level is low but if we keep her in for a couple of days it'll get better. I believe she may have Anaemia caused by iron defiency but I'll have to take a blood sample to look at her red blood cells as she has abnormally pale skins and her nails are quite thin and flat a sign of Koilonychia. At the moment I don't believe it's safe to put her on any pills as it could cause damage to her liver due to the lack of fat in her body. I'm diagnosing her as Anorexic because she's more than 10% underweight although, I have a feeling that she might have Hyperthyroidism, because the things you've told me are quite common symptoms of someone suffering from it, so I'm going to run a blood test to check for overactive tissue within the thyroid gland "I heard a man saying. It sounded vaguely familiar but I couldn't put a finger on it.

"What do we do?" a gruff voice whispered brokenly.

"Give her all the love and support you can, try to find out the cause of her stress and extricate her from it. That's really all and if she doesn't have Hyperthyroidism and her condition continues to deteriorate there are many clinics that can help with this kind of thing but for the mean time after she is released you should keep her out of school for a few days so she can rest or maybe" the voice paused and lowered a little "you could send her to stay with her mother, sometimes a change of scenery can help a great deal especially if she is unwilling to tell you what the cause of her stress is" the first voice replied.

"Ok and Doctor?" the voice asked.

"Yes" he replied.

"Thank you"

"Don't thank me, I'm just doing my job" then I heard footsteps walking away.

I drifted off back to sleep after that, I was tired and sore and if I could I'd sleep the rest of my life away, just so I didn't have to feel the pain...no he'd just haunt me in my dreams instead...

I thought of one last thing before my mind turned to black, I had to get away.

I had to leave Forks...

...and Jasper.

**So it took us a long time to get here I hope it was worth it, I know this story dragged on a little bit though so I hope this chapter was a little better. I'm thinking of doing a JPOV. What do you think? R & R**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	31. Chapter 31

**I'm back again and with a new chapter, only a few chapters are left in this story and I've already got an idea for a new one.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 31**

"You should drink something Bella?" Charlie said handing me a cup of water. I took it and gently took a sip before going back to looking out the window. I had been released from the hospital 3 days ago after being there for 9 days.

Turns out I had Hyperthyroidism; I researched it on the internet and found I could have gotten a lump in my throat or even Osteoporosis. It didn't scare me as much as it should have.

"Are you ready to talk?" he asked gently. I turned my head to look at him before slowly shaking my head no. I hadn't spoken in 8 days; the last thing I said was that I didn't want Jasper or Alice to visit me.

_Jasper_

Even thinking his name caused me immense pain so I preferred to just block him out, block everything out. I ate, I drank, and I slept that was all. I knew Jasper had come here, I'd heard him banging on the door at 3 pm the day I'd been released.

I couldn't cry anymore.

I also knew he'd stayed out there till 6 pm before going home, I knew he'd called me, Charlie had picked up and told him I didn't want to see him but he had in turn answered all his questions about my condition, weeks ago it would have thrilled me that Jasper was desperately trying to get into contact with me but now it had changed...now he just he made me feel so tired and weak and heart broken because he was probably doing it out of guilt. That didn't stop him from calling again an hour later or an hour after that and the next day and the day after that. Eventually Charlie just disconnected the house phone.

He tried my mobile so I put it on silent, then I copied all the numbers onto the phone memory and got rid of my sim card.

Amy's came round to see me and so had Edward, they had enough sense not to talk to me about _that night_ and I was thankful for it because I just knew I'd break down if I heard that Jasper had gone back to the house and he and Alice had done exactly what she'd implied they'd do, I already hated the fact that he loved her and had given his virginity to her but that didn't mean I wanted it flaunted around in front of me. They talked and I listened, they brought me flowers so I gave them to Charlie to give to Sue. Jasper had apparently had the same thought and had a giant bouquet delivered. I had Charlie give them to Sue as well.

I'd stopped sleeping in my bedroom, too many memories and instead had taken up residence in the living room. Since I'd come home, I hadn't entered my bedroom, instead when Amy had come round, she'd packed a suitcase of my stuff and Edward had helped her bring it down.

"I called Renee, she said she'd send you a ticket as soon as possible, most likely in a week or so and that you should pack all your stuff and that anything heavy can be shipped" Charlie went on. I nodded my head thoughtfully; there were some things I needed to get done.

"Right err you ought to get onto bed it's getting late. I'm going out early tomorrow so...I'll probably be home around 9 or 10" he said. I nodded in response; he pulled me into a slight hug. "Night Bells"

I stayed awake till about 1 am when I couldn't resist the pull of sleep anymore. I covered myself with a blanket and drifted off.

xXx

"Thanks so much for coming, honestly, I don't what to do and I guess she just needs her friends around her" I heard Charlie saying to someone. I squeezed my eyes shut attempting to feign sleep. I felt a presence coming near me and crouching down in front.

"I know you're awake Bella so give it up" Rose whispered sweetly but menacingly. I opened my eyes to look at her and found she was frowning.

"Charlie told me you were admitted and that you were in bad shape, but I didn't think it was this bad, you've gained a little weight but you look so pale" she said gently, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears, she brushed a lock of hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ear before simply stroking my cheek with her thumb.

"He said you're going to move in with your mum, so Emmett and I came here to help you pack because you won't go in your room, he said you don't like music anymore" she paused wiping away the tears on her cheeks "Bella you are my sister and I love you so much and I don't want to see you hurt and Jasper's hurting you and as hard as it may be, you're doing the right thing by leaving honey, it'll help you in the long run"

"Yeah Bells" Emmet said kneeling next to Rose "and you always have a home with us if you don't want to stay with your mum, my mum wants to meet you she's heard so much about you"

"We can move Bella, we can move closer to you"

"Yeah" Emmett added "We can move anywhere you want and we'll look after you"

"We can move to Florida or Phoenix if you want or...or..." Rose sobbed tears streaming down her face "I can't see you like this Bella, you look so ill, you look like a fucking corpse, you won't talk or anything please, Bella please say something even if it's just to tell me to go away"

I squeezed my eyes closed, they were my family, they cared about me and with their help I could get past this.

"I love you guys" I croaked frowning at my voice.

"Oh Bella" Rose cried wrapping her arms around my neck "I'm going to take care of you, we're going to take care of you but there's something I need to do first." She stood up determined, wiped her tears and grabbed her purse and my truck keys. I didn't ask where she was going instead Emmett and I watched as she walked out the door, the sensitive girl in tears long forgotten.

"You know what" Emmett began thoughtfully "In all the time I've known her that is like the third time I've ever seen her cry" I nodded my head back to being mute.

"I love you too Bells now" he stood clapping his hands together "We need to start you packing ok" I shook my head furiously. "What...oh! You need to go back in there sometime, I get you're not ready yet but you'll have to go there once before you leave"

I sighed knowing he was right but somehow I just couldn't bring myself to do it, not a the moment, I don't know why but it just seemed so final, I'd go in there and say goodbye to my past, goodbye to Jasper. I'd write him a letter, for closure but that was all, I'd write a letter for Amy and Edward as well, I owed them that much.

Rose came back about an hour later with Pizza and beer, Charlie was on patrol and wouldn't be joining us, as well as the pizza she had brought something else but had hidden it from view. Tomorrow we were going to Port Angeles; Rose was adamant that I needed to get away from Forks.

She helped me get ready, got me something that looked good but also something I was comfortable in, thankfully she didn't make me wear make up only some lip gloss. Emmett had rented a Jeep for us to drive around in, on our way to get something to eat I saw the costume shop which Claire owned, it made my heart clench painfully and I turned to look out the other window.

A nice thing that happened though was that we saw Tanya, she was with her parents and I was surprised she remembered me. Tears pricked at my eyes painfully, she told me she loved me and that she missed me. I told her I loved her and that I'm sorry I hadn't called in a while. Then she gave me something, it was a silver coin with silver vines decorating it and in the middle it says 'No one will never let you down'then she told me it was in the velvet box I had given her all those years ago. We said our goodbyes and promised to keep in contact.

Rose and Emmett drove me home afterwards, Rose handed me a present and they stayed with me till I fell asleep, I had an odd dream that night I was walking, walking and walking and then I saw Rose except it wasn't Rose this girl was younger around 7 or 8 and she was with a boy who also looked around 7 or 8, he had a mane of blonde hair that looked like a halo around his head, he was missing his two front teeth. I woke with a start and remembered I had seen that girl before on a picture on the wall of Jasper's house.

I cried that night finally realising what had been in front of me all along, Rosalie was Jasper's Lily.

xXx

I didn't say anything about my sudden realisation but I urged Rosalie to tell me more about her cousin Jasper, she was surprised at first and a little sceptical but she indulged me none the less and despite myself, I smiled wishing I had met Jasper then and then I realised that what happened to Rose may have screwed Jasper up making him more vulnerable to evil women such as Alice.

Then I realised that Jasper wasn't an idiot and that he listened and believed Alice by himself, the Rose situation _might_ have had an effect on his decision but that ultimately he made his own choices, which led him away from me.

The next day I woke up and showered and got dressed contemplating what I was about to do but I knew it had to be done. I walked up the stairs and along the landing as though I were walking to my death but it felt like it.

I got to the right door and hesitantly pushed it open, the first thing I noticed was the slightly musty smell in the room, it was dark because the curtains were closed but ultimately it looked the same, my half made bed, my wardrobe door that was slightly open and the odd thing that had been strewn along the ground. I walked around the room touching the odd thing until I got to the window where I opened the curtains, the rare Forks sun shone inside instantly and you could see the dust particles dancing in the air.

It was a beautiful sight, the sun warmed my skin and made the place look better. I looked around the room and thought about what it meant to me, everything that had happened hear over the years and I broke down in tears. It was too much, saying goodbye to it all. All the memories, everything, this really was _final_. No more would I sleep in here, no longer will Jasper sneak in, and no more will I play or draw in here.

No more.

I got up from where I had sat on the ground and walked over to where my guitar sat, next to it Jasper's guitar sat as well. He had given it to me the summer we met and I had kept it all along, I picked it up and lay it on the bed before lying down next to it. I strummed some notes carelessly on the guitar and knew I had to give it back to him.

Was our friendship really over? Just like that and over a girl, what was that saying, bros before hoes and chicks before dicks? Well were did that put us, it wasn't as though he was putting a girl over another girl and it was quite weird that argument when I thought it over.

Amy had pointed out at several times that he'd tried to tell me something but Alice would never let him finish the sentence and he wasn't really a rude guy. I continued strumming the guitar until the sun began to lower in the sky. I stood up and went downstairs to get the present that Rose gave me before opening it when I got back to my room.

It was a letter writing set with different kinds of pens and paper Rose had even written a note to leave with it '_Just thought you might need it, I wish I could be there to help you but I know you need to do this alone. Love Rose x'_

She always knew what to do and I would always remain thankful to her, grateful that I'd met her and for one moment I realised that if Alice had never come to Forks I would never have met her and I couldn't imagine not knowing Rose, I couldn't imagine not knowing Jasper wither but if everything hadn't had happened I wouldn't have met him, I'd live life without him but this time was different, I needed a fresh start away from Jasper because in all the mess that had happened I had lost myself.

I stripped down to my underwear and opened my wardrobe pulling out some of the clothes I had nicked from Jasper and put them on, some of them still smelt like him and I sniffed them. I huddled on my desk chair and wrapped my arms around my legs and began thinking about what I wanted to write in my letter.

The feelings I felt for him were confounding and intense and as I began to write I tried to put my feelings on paper and show him exactly how I felt and in the end I thought that I had managed to do exactly that. I planned to give it to him at the same time I returned his guitar, it seemed easier that way.

I don't know how long I sat there trying to write the letter but I knew that when I finished it was late and I was done. I was emotionally drained and all I wanted to do was sleep so that's what I did, I curled up in bed with Jasper's guitar and slept like a baby knowing I was going to be gone soon.

xXx

Charlotte came to the house as well as a few other well wishers, at times like this I avoided being downstairs and hid out in Charlie's room, it was odd being in there in a place so personal and private, the room smelt of him. On his bedside table was a picture of him Renee and me. My heart bled for him but I knew Sue would heal him.

xXx

The next day I wrote a few more letters, one to Amy, one to Edward, one to Charlotte and one to Charlie. They deserved an explanation or at least more of an explanation than I've been giving them especially Charlie, I thought moving here would help us as well and though we've become closer I've hurt him so much in the process.

"Okay Bella, do you want to keep this top or give it to charity?" Rose asked lifting a top out of my wardrobe. We were packing my stuff up and in the end we decided anything I didn't want to take with me to my mums we'd give to charity.

"Charity" I said offhandedly flipping through one of my sketch books and smiling at the images.

"I'm really proud of you, you know" I turned to look at her, she was facing away from me but I could see the blue fabric of the material clenched in her fists "I just wanted you to know"

"Rose" I paused going to sit on the bed "There's something I need to tell you"

"What is it?" she asked sitting next to me.

"It's about Jasper"

"No Bella" she groaned "Don't think about him, you don't need to tell me anything about him, its okay"

"No...no...no" I whimpered "It's important, I need to tell you, I only just realised...but I guess I...I don't know..." I babbled.

"What is it?"

"What is your cousin's surname?" I asked urgently, staring straight ahead.

"Jasper? It's Whitlock, Jasper Whitlock"

"I knew it, my Jasper is _your _Jasper Rose, they're one and the same" tears streamed down my face.

"What you don't mean, he can't be. Jasper isn't like...but he can't, what" Rose babbled.

"I am so sorry Rose" I cried wrapping my arms around her.

"All these years I've prayed that I would find him again, but he, he's not my Jasper anymore, he's changed, he's...I don't know how"

"Shh, shh" I hushed stroking her hair and manoeuvring her so we were lying down "It's going to be alright Rose, I'm going to take care of you"

We managed to pack up a few more of my things and we got the charity stuff sorted out. I asked Rose if she wanted to see him and she said no in a voice so cold, but I knew she would, in her own time at least and that was okay. I guess she was still in shock. Emmett drove us to Port Angeles and we managed to drop everything off right before the store closed.

xXx

The next few days flew by and Renee sent my ticket. My life was packed into various suitcases that were now resting by the door. I was leaving today, leaving Forks for God knows how long, I had seen Amy and Edward the previous day to say goodbye, we went to the diner and had ice cream and talked, we promised to stay in contact and Amy had joked tearfully that if I didn't she'd fly down to Florida to get me.

Only a few people knew I was leaving Forks and I wanted to keep it that way because if people knew then Jasper was sure to find out. I still had Charlotte's letter and I was going over to see her today, _alone. _Charlie was doing a bit of work before he accompanied me to the airport and Emmet and Rose were of doing...something.

I grabbed my truck keys and began driving the familiar rode to Jasper's house. I knew he was going to be in school, I was supposed to be there but I wouldn't be again. I parked in front of his house and walked out clutching his and Charlotte's letters in one hand and his guitar in the other.

I knocked on the door twice and saw the pleasant surprise on Charlotte's face as she smiled at me.

"Bella, sweetie, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home recuperating?" Charlotte asked leading me into the kitchen where she was baking. On the counter was a plate full of fresh cookies.

"Have one" she said noticing me looking at them "So how come you're here, not that I'm not glad to see you but..." she trailed off.

"I'm leaving Forks and I came to say goodbye" I whispered looking down at my hands. The cookie I had just devoured felt like cement in the bottom of my stomach.

"What do you mean leaving Forks? For Christmas or something?" Charlotte asked, I peeked at her and saw the tears in her eyes.

"For good" I whispered.

"Oh Bella, Jasper loves you, don't leave yet, just wait a few more days or wait till he gets back from school, please" she begged.

"Why do you think I'm leaving because of him, why can't I leave because of me? Why can't I do something for me?" I cried.

"No Bella, that's not what I mean, I mean, please just stay, please" Charlotte babbled.

"I'm sorry Charlotte, I can't" We were silent, I could hear the clock ticking away the seconds and the nervousness I felt increased as I wondered what Charlotte was thinking.

"It's not my place to decide whether you stay or not, but know I want you too and I love you" then she hugged me.

"I love you too Char" she pulled back and smiled brightly at me.

"Let Charlie know that he's always welcome to come here for dinner and promise me you'll visit"

"I'll try" I said hoping that one day I could come back to Forks, happy.

"Well...there's some laundry I need to get done so you do what you need to do Bella" she said as she bustled out of the room.

I left immediately and headed for the stairs leading to Jasper's bedroom, I paused outside of his room remembering the last time I had been stood in that position and then I pushed the door open and was assaulted with the smell of Jasper.

It was as though he was all around me and I immersed myself in him before remembering why I came there, hurriedly I put the guitar and letter on his bed before leaving the room and the house without a backward glance. I felt bad about not saying goodbye to Charlotte properly, but I knew she'd understand, I drove back to the house and collapsed against the door, emotionally drained.

xXx

Charlie came home and we put the stuff in the cruiser, Rosalie and Emmett bid me farewell but Rose said there were a few things she needed to do before she left Forks, I knew she meant seeing Jasper so I simply squeezed her hand and sent her a small smile.

The ride to Seattle was quiet, neither Charlie nor I felt the need to fill it with incessant chatter, we got to Seattle early and checked in my luggage and things before sitting down in a cafe for something to eat.

"I'm going to miss you Bells" Charlie began staring out the window "It's been _amazing_ having you live with me all these years and I'm really glad you did"

"Same here dad" I said my throat thick with tears. Charlie smiled hesitantly and reached across the table to squeeze my hand.

"You'll be going off to college in less than a year, I guess it'll be like your going early or something" he continued. I wrapped my hands around my cup of tea and lifted it to take a sip.

"I'm just worried about what you'll eat without me cooking" I joked badly.

"Don't worry about me Bells, I'll take care of myself and you...you take care of yourself, don't stress yourself out or anything, focus on school"

"Ok dad" we finished up in the cafe and went back to the airport where we met Rosalie and Emmett, they both looked extremely guilty for some reason but I couldn't figure out why, they said goodbye to me and made me promise to call them when I landed, there flight was leaving after mine so they had to go and get checked in and Charlie had to leave to get home before dark.

I had about half an hour to go before I had to be at the gate but I was bored and decided to go there early. The closer I got to the gate the more my neck tingled as though someone was watching me and then I felt it, the familiar electric and the honey voice calling my name. Stunned into silence I turned around and came face to face with Jasper.

"Bella..." he drawled. "Don't leave"

I closed my eyes to gather myself and opened them preparing for the onslaught of emotions that was sure to come with this battle.

**Sorry about the long wait but I've been feeling very uninspired, next chapter is JPOV, would you like it to start from the night Bella confessed her love or from the airport?**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	32. Chapter 32

**Sorry about the wait, so finally Jasper gets his say, I honestly hope I do him justice he's not as heartless as he seemed. I'm estimating maybe two or three more chapters for this story and then its goodbye to Douchesper. **

**For now at least.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 32**

Isabella Swan.

She drives me crazy.

I can't decide if that's a good or bad thing.

What can I say about her?

I honestly don't know.

What I do know is that when I first met her at the tender age of eleven I never knew how much she'd change my life.

I never knew I'd fall in love with her.

Love.

Who knew you could fuck love up so badly?

I certainly didn't.

Until I did.

And then I fucked it up some more.

Then came back and gave it a little kick for extra measure.

And then a little one after that.

Only I never actually knew I was doing it at the time but I guess it's no excuse since the result is still the same.

Except I do love her.

Sadly she doesn't know that, which brings us to the problem at hand.

I never thought that one day I'd be chasing her in an airport – for a second time – to stop her from leaving me, to stop her from breaking my heart like I broke hers repeatedly.

I never knew that one day I could wake up and there'd be no more Bella.

No more Bella.

Such a painful thought.

I can't imagine losing Bella.

She's always just been there and in a way I really took her for granted.

I guess I just thought 'Bella's my best friend she'll never leave'

Until she did.

She came back though.

And the idiot that I am I'm the reason she's leaving again.

And now she may not come back.

Whoever said love hurts was seriously mistaking, love is brutal and painful but at the end of the day if you get your love its worth it right? But if you don't then you're left with a broken heart and in my case a broken heart and no best friend waiting with a glue gun.

Because she is my best friend.

But I guess that if I'm going to tell this story I better start from when the mess really began and that was basically when I fell in love with her. It was an accident really and completely threw me.

It was the day before she was due to start school in Forks and we were sat on her bed and she just...she was so worried and panicked and just so...Bella that I fell for her and then when she made me pinky promise and we said forever, I meant it.

I wanted her forever, I just needed to know she felt the same.

And then I got so jealous when fucking Eric tried to get her to kiss him that I just had to myself, her lips were so soft and everything I'd imagined it'd be. I had to pull back of course so she didn't know how much she affected me but it didn't mean I stopped thinking about it and then when I kissed her again on Christmas I hoped she felt the same way.

Then there was Christine, I wondered how she'd react if I brought up another girl but she didn't seem too jealous more sad at the idea and I didn't know how to take that, then Alice moved to Forks and changed everything. We hung out together and everything and I asked her advice about things and then came that fateful day in my room when I kissed her, I wanted to see if I felt the same as when I kissed Bella but it wasn't.

That wasn't the worst part, I wanted to hide it from Bella because I didn't want her to think I replaced her but in the end it was so much worse, I hurt her and I felt like an ass.

Things went down hill from there, Bella left Forks and went away, Charlie was worried but he wouldn't give me Bella's mums number and Bella ignored my calls and texts most of the time and then she came back and I was relieved but there was that argument about that Alec guy.

The sad thing though was that she only saw me as her brother at least that's what Alice told me after I got her to ask Bella if she had feelings for me. Then I made the mistake of saying I saw her as my sister and she shouted at me and ran away, I followed her but when I saw Edward comforting her, he shook his head and I left knowing he'd take care of her for me.

We got back to normal and she left me stay round her house after I replaced her shampoo and I told her I wish we could be more. She was asleep of course but I felt a little better after confessing to her and then there was the movie marathon.

But none of that was important as the months went by I reduced the physical contact not only to respect Bella but because well because Alice kept telling me how grossed out she was whenever I did anything more than brotherly but after a while I stopped believing her but she reinforced the truth when she told me to ask Bella for permission to ask her out. I did and Bella said it was okay.

I literally felt as though I had been stabbed in the chest, I asked if she was really alright with it but she simply told me she was and I was gutted, then I had to go through the whole charade of asking Alice out. Each of those months I spent going out with Alice, I wished that Bella felt something for me, but I also noticed all these little problems and I kept pestering Alice to go and talk to her about them.

Now when I think about it I doubt she did.

Then November came around and Alice was having another game night, we had broken up in September but Alice had assured me that Bella knew because I was going to ask her how she felt about me.

When I got up the courage of course.

Then everything went wrong.

I think I'll start from the house, when Alice squeezed my dick. Bella ran out of the room and out of the house so fast that I was stunned she didn't fall over in the process, if this were any other circumstance I'd congratulate her on it teasingly just to see that delectable pink blush appear on her cheeks and feel my heart skip a beat and my dick grow hard as I imagined how pink her cheeks – and other body parts – would go if we were partaking in certain _other _activities.

But more importantly I started shouting at Alice.

"What the hell were you doing Alice, you know we don't go out anymore ,why did you keep making it look like we do? And why the fuck would you do it in front of Bella, you know how I feel about her?" I screamed. My parents had raised me to respect women but right then I wanted to shake Alice so hard her teeth rattled.

"Because I love you Jazzy and she wants to take you away from me" she cried trying to kiss me again.

"What the fuck Alice, take me from you, you don't own me" I said making for the door, but Alice grabbed my arm.

"I love you Jazzy, don't leave me please, I've worked too long and hard destroying everything you had with her for you to just go running out after her. You're mine Jasper only mine not that tarts, she can't win you, I won you she lost, she lost" she screamed grabbing my face in between her hands. For someone so short she sure did have a lot of strength.

As I saw her then I saw what Bella must have been seeing all along, a manipulative psycho who for some reason I had trusted enough to tell her my feelings and to get advice.

I am an idiot.

No wonder Bella was so pissed at me, I never realised what I was doing wrong for example on my birthday when I picked her up, that red dress she was wearing, she looked irresistible and I was filled with the strangest urge to lock her in the house so that no other person could feast upon the perfection that was Bella.

Alice had told me not to compliment her because she said Bella had told her she hadn't liked it when I did but didn't want to hurt my feelings.

So I didn't.

I can now see that was a very, _very_ bad mistake.

"Alice you're nuts, get some help"

"She's starving herself Jazz, she's going to die and I'll be waiting" her voice taunted me as I ran out in the rain after her.

We had a verbal show down and she cried and said some things and she told me she loved me then she kissed me, the effect she had on me, it was impossible for her not to know but Alice's words kept circling round my head _she's going to die _I couldn't imagine her dying, I couldn't imagine her being gone forever because at least if she was alive at the other end of the world, I'd know she was alive and one day I could see her again but if she died, then she died and she'd be gone forever.

_Forever._

But I wanted forever with her which made me say a lot of things sadly I happened to be thinking with something that wasn't my head – or my dick – and I ended up saying everything except for...

I love you

Which is an extremely stupid thing considering I was trying to win her heart.

I thought about when she told me she loved me

I don't know why she ran but I was so stunned that I didn't move quicker, then Edward comes. "Jasper, Jasper you need to go to Alice" he begged.

"Why, please, I need to go after Bella" I groaned, looking in the direction she'd gone and even taking a few steps.

"No please, it's Alice after you left, her and Amy started fighting and then Alice got into the kitchen and she grabbed a knife and she threatened to kill herself if you didn't come back, we tried talking her round but she was seriously freaking out, crying and screaming but worst of all she was flinging her arms out as she screamed and I was so afraid she'd end up hitting one of us with it" he paused for breath.

"Edward...please...I-"

"I don't like her but that doesn't mean I want to see her dead" Edward finished. I knew I had no choice so I broke in to a run and went to Alice but not before giving Edward specific instructions to go find Bella.

I coaxed the knife out of Alice's hands, called her parents and they came and took her home. They apologised for Alice losing it and mentioned something about her having a multiple personality disorder, her mother mentioned it was why they'd moved to Forks to begin with, she'd gotten in a mess with some boy called Royce who vowed revenge against her and since Forks was such a small place her parents reckoned they could start a new life her, I reckoned she was schizophrenic, but I'm no doctor. After that I called Edward but the call wouldn't go through, I drove to his house and found he wasn't there either, Esme said he hadn't come home yet and Carlisle was working the night shift.

I sat up all night panicked until my phone started ringing and I realised I'd fallen asleep, it was Edward and he told me that Bella was in hospital. He filled me in on everything and in my panicked, sleep deprived state I drove there but Charlie and Carlisle wouldn't let me in, apparently Bella had left specific instructions that I couldn't see her.

I stayed there though and watched her through the window, she was asleep most of the time and I found out she had something called Hyperthyroidism, I was so worried and I researched it which made me freak out even more. I went there every day at 3 pm even leaving school early if I had to. Then one day I got there and found out she had gone home. I drove to her house as quickly as I could and by 3.15 I was at her house asking to be let in, I stayed there for 3 hours before realising it would be easier to try and get into her bedroom through her window, her curtains were drawn and everyday that I went back they stayed drawn, her window was also locked, I knocked on them but she wouldn't answer it for me. One day as I was sitting in the tree Charlie came to me as said she wasn't staying in her room anymore, that she just wouldn't go in there.

I tried calling hoping that she'd pick up and eventually the phone was disconnected, I called her phone and eventually it said it was unavailable. I sent flowers and everything, whenever Amy or Edward went to visit her I would plead with them to tell me everything she said, I was just that desperate.

Which brings me to my current predicament, the day that changed everything, I came home from school and was walking to the door when this blonde girl comes running after me screaming bloody murder, I turned to face her and was shocked speechless but that didn't stop her lashing out at me or the verbal abuse.

"You are an ass hole, I don't even know who you are anymore, you've destroyed Bella, you've-"

"You don't know who I am" I cut in "I have no fucking clue who you are and I'd appreciate it if you stop poking me in the chest it hurts" I finished rubbing the spot.

"Oh I'm sorry allow me to introduce myself, Rosalie Hale" she sneered sarcastically before taking a dramatic bow. My face froze in shock, it couldn't be but it was. I looked at her taking everything in, it really was her but older, she was gorgeous like I knew she'd be but I could still see traces of the young girl that I'd known and a feeling of guilt flooded me and I was transported to the day that triggered everything.

_I knew Royce would be going round to Lily's's house that day because her parents had some meeting to attend together, I knew she'd be alone and I was full of dread. The night before I'd been sick and had slept later than I wanted to, I woke up at around 2 in the afternoon and panicked falling out of bed knowing he would already be there. I fell out of bed and quickly changed but as I ran down the stairs I tripped and fell, hitting my head._

_My mum had come out and fussed, I begged her to let me leave but she wouldn't until she'd made sure there was nothing wrong with me. I ran to her house but a feeling of dread had already filled my stomach, I got to the house and let myself in taking the stairs two at a time._

_Then I saw her._

_She was lying curled on the floor a stray shirt covering her body and I'd known what he'd done to her, I went mad searching the house for him but he was gone, taking with him her innocence. I went to her to hold her but she wouldn't let me instead she started crying._

I remembered going ahead and holding her still and I begged her to go to the police but she refused saying she wanted to scrub him off of her but I wouldn't let her. I called our parents and told them, they contacted the police but he fled the country with his parents. I don't know if they tracked him down but I hope they did.

"Lily" I whispered.

"Yeah Jasper it's me" she said crossing her arms.

"What...what are you doing here?" I stammered. "How did you know I was here?"

"I came here to tell you what an ass hole you are and how you are about to lose the best thing that ever happened to you"

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"Bella is what I mean Jasper, for fucks sake, you did so much shit to her but she still loved you and all she's done is to try and help you, she was so scared that you were going to sleep with Alice and accidentally get her pregnant or something" Lily replied haughtily.

"I love her though" I whispered.

"That may be true but she's leaving Jasper, she came here and left you a letter and a guitar and you have to go now if you want to get her"

"Wait Bella's leaving, where's she going?" I asked panicked.

"To Jacksonville to live with her mother, her and Charlie have already left for the airport. Come on" she cried.

"Wait let me just get something" I said going inside to pocket the letter and grab the guitar.

She was standing outside waiting for me, tapping her feet impatiently before grabbing my arm and leading me down the road.

"How exactly are we going to get there?" I questioned.

"Car, duh" she said pointing in the direction of a jeep.

We got in and she introduced me to this huge guy called Emmett but he was nice, she said he was her boyfriend and I could see they were perfect for each other. We spent the drive to Seattle talking and catching up but then things took a turn for the worse.

First we hit traffic.

Second we got onto the train wreck that was my relationship with Bella if you could call it a relationship.

"I don't know how you didn't know she loved you, I mean she told me about that lady Claire and I'm thinking she knew you guys were made for each other and gave Bella some coin thing, which Bella gave to this little girl who gave it back to Bella. It had an inscription on it" Lily said thoughtfully.

"What did it say?" I asked impatiently looking out the window and praying for the traffic to hurry up.

"'No one will never let you down', I'm guessing it means something like you will make mistakes and let her down but that she should forgive you but that's not important, what is important was how could you doubt Bella, I mean yeah I get Alice manipulated the situation but come on you were such a fucking coward, you should have just told Bella" she said turning to face me.

"I know, I know you don't have to keep rubbing in how stupid I am" I groaned.

"Yes I do" she said smiling "because this is the only way you'll learn from your mistakes"

I sat back frowning and stared out the window, it was true if I hadn't been such a coward then I'd still have Bella even if it was just as a friend. There were times when I thought she felt more for me then there were times when it seemed like she didn't want to be anymore like when I tried to kiss her and she moved away.

"We're coming with you to the airport and then we can get Charlie to say he was going so you guys can talk privately, our flight is actually one of those open ones so we can go whenever" Emmett said inching forward in the traffic.

"Do you think she'll leave though?" I asked nervously, glancing down at the seat before meeting Lily's wide eyes.

"I...I actually don't know Jasper, I mean before I encouraged her to leave saying it was the best thing for her but that, that was before I knew you loved her because honestly you seemed like a right ass but I guess it's true what they say, there's two sides to every story" Lily answered.

"But do you think she'll leave?" I persisted.

"I don't know Jasper but what I can tell you is that whatever she chooses she's chosen it because she thinks it's the right thing to do for herself, but promise me that you won't give it up, okay?"

"I won't give up on her, I'll _never _give up on her" I whispered determined.

"Good, that's what I like to hea-"

"Thank God the traffics moving" Emmett bellowed. I looked out the window and saw he was right, with a smile in place I sat back in my seat rehearsing what I was going to say when I remembered the letter she'd written me.

I pulled it out of my pocket hastily and unfolded the letter eager to read it's contents.

_Jazz,_

_Hi, it's me Bella, it took me awhile but eventually I decided to just write this letter as it comes to me, as if I'm speaking to you although it'll be kind a weird because you're not here. Firstly, I love you, I want you to know that I do love you more than everything and you know that saying, the one about how if you love someone then there happiness will be the most important thing to you? Well you're happiness is the most important thing to me so I'm leaving Forks for two reasons:_

1) _You and Alice deserve... privacy I guess is the word I'm looking for, I don't want you to feel guilty about not loving me back, it's not your fault and after what I said and did at the games night, I don't know, I just want you to know that if you and Alice are happy together, I'll be happy as well knowing that you are._

2) _I also need time for myself because like I said your happiness is important to me but I deserve some kind of happiness in my life as well and it's not fair on either of us if I stayed in Forks and made all of us unhappy, it also wouldn't have been fair to Amy or Edward as they'd be torn between the two us._

_I'll miss you Jazz, I honestly will and I will never forget you either and I also wanted you to know, I mean I don't know if I'll ever love again but I hope I do because it can be a beautiful thing, I was just one of those unlucky people who had to fall for someone who didn't love me back, I hope that you stay happy though, with whoever you end up with because your an amazing person Jazz and you deserve it._

_I guess I'll always remember you Jazz because you are and always will be my Jazz because you, you are, I don't know what to say now, I'm crying right now because saying good bye hurts so much but I don't want to say good bye to you Jazz, I want one day for us to be us again to be friends again but not now maybe in a few years if I get over you or when I've got my life under control._

_Please don't see this as me running away, it isn't, it's just me trying to protect myself, a defence mechanism I guess and it really is for the best at the moment because everything is becoming so destructive between us and you know what they say time makes the heart go fonder or something like that but hopefully the next time ,if there is a next time, I see you we can be friends again, it'd be a shame if everything remained destroyed. Stay happy forever, please._

_Think of me fondly Jazz, I love you._

_Bella_

_P.S. Sorry about my writing you always did joke about it._

I finished reading the letter and slumped in my seat emotionally exhausted.

Then I read it again.

And re read it to be sure.

In the end it still had the same words and still made me feel like a fucking ass .

One thing I knew for sure was that if I didn't get there in time, I'd lose her forever.

xXx

We arrived at the airport about an hour later and circled for about 15 minutes before finding somewhere near the airport to park. My body was tight with nerves and agitation about what the outcome of what I was about to do would be but I knew that wouldn't make me give up.

We got into the airport and immediately I began leading the way to a check in desk to ask which flight she was on before Lily's grabbed me and we stood looking for flights going to Florida on the interactive time table.

"There, that's where her gate is, that's were you need to be, we're supposed to be meeting her and Charlie so go, get there early and wait for her, we'll be at the entrance waiting" Lily ordered. I turned to go but stopped and turned back.

"I'm glad you're here Lily, I love you" I said wrapping my arms around her and kissing her cheek.

"I love you too" she said wrapping her arms around me "but go get your girl Jasper" she said pushing me away.

"Okay see you later guys" I said waving to them before they disappeared in the crowd. I sped off counting the gate numbers but still I couldn't find it. I had about forty five minutes till she actually had to be at the gate but knowing Bella she'd get there early. After going around in circles for another five minutes I conceded and asked for help.

"Excuse me do you know where gate number 8 is?" I asked using a little southern charm.

"Oh...why yes" she replied flustered. She bit her lip and looked up at me no doubt trying to be seductive "It's on the other end" My eyes widened immediately, it would take about ten minutes to get there through this crowd and with a quick thanks I began running as fast as I could through the crowded airport which was actually extremely packed for November.

In the distance I caught a flash of mahogany and then another and I realised it was Bella. I looked at the digital clock and found there was about 35 minutes till she was actually supposed to be at the gate. Then I realised she was heading straight there, I pushed my legs faster keeping my eyes on her and then when I got closer I shouted at her name. She stopped and I could feel goose bumps on my arms from the static that only she could fill me with. She turned around and I stopped right in front of her.

She was more beautiful than I remembered and I just wanted to pull her to me and kiss her and tell I'd never hurt her again, that I loved her and have done for years.

"Bella..." I drawled. "Don't leave" She closed her eyes and I briefly wondered if she was hoping that if I couldn't see her then she couldn't see me. Then she opened them and I was surprised to see them shimmering with tears she wished weren't there.

"What are you doing here Jasper?" she asked but I was mesmerised by her voice, it was so soft, so quiet that I almost couldn't hear it above the hum of voices around us.

"I came for you, to get back you back because I wouldn't be able to stand it if I lost you" I answered placing a hand on her cheeks, her eyes flutter closed and she leaned into my hand for a moment before stepping back out of reach.

"Why?" she asked harshly and I flinched as though she'd slapped me.

"Because I love you" I said stepping forward. I could almost hear her heart stop beating before resuming at a deafening pace, her cheeks filled with a rosy blush and her lips parted in shock.

"What?" she gasped.

"I love you Bella and I wish I'd told you sooner" I whispered.

"No, no, no please don't do this Jazz, please I can't...you don't love me like I love you" she said tears shining in her eyes.

"Yes I do Bella" I said stepping forward. "I am in love with you"

She stared at me in shock, her mouth partly open before her tongue slipped out her mouth and gently wet her lips. I watched the movement and could barely suppress a groan as a wave of lust went through me. I knew however that this was not the time and focused on what I was there to do.

"Don't go Bella, I know I messed up, I really do but please give me a chance to explain, here me out" I begged.

"Jasper it doesn't matter what you have to say, I have to go, I need to be through in less than half an hour, I'm sorry" she whispered.

"I read your letter Bella and I was so scared that I was going to be late, that I was going to lose you"

"Jasper, please don't do this now" she begged looking around as if trying to escape from me.

"Why Bella? Please, just give me an answer or something"

"Jasper, it's taken me so long to be able to sort my life out, it's taken so long for me to be able to sort out the mess my mind has become, the mess that I've become and I...I just can't throw it all away"

"You won't be throwing it all away" I pleaded "We can be something Bella, we can be something-"

"Don't you get it Jasper? What did you think, you'd come here and beg and I'd go with you just because you said so? I'm not an animal Jazz, I'm a human with feelings, I feel Jazz, I hurt, I breathe, I bleed and right now I need to do what's best for me. I need to get away for a fresh start." She paused turning away from me.

"Bella"

"You shouldn't have come here"

I froze, her voice was dead and had no emotion. What had I done to her? Maybe she was right, maybe I should just give up and go home.

_No_

I couldn't I had to see this through to the end, I had to fight for Bella, I couldn't lose her. I knew that if I did nothing would ever be good in my life again. Even if I did move on –which I doubt I would – it wouldn't be the same, we deserved an epic love story and that was what we were going to get.

"I'd always come, I love you" I said cupping her face in my hands. Her eyes squeezed shut and I could see the tears seeping from under her eye lids. I was hurting her again, she was right I was always hurting her.

I wiped her tears away gently with my thumbs "Jasper I need to do what's right by me, I need to be selfish this one time and do something for me, I don't know who I am anymore" she cried.

I pulled her shaking body into my arms "I'm so sorry Bella but please don't leave, please" I closed my eyes holding back the tears I knew were coming from the fact that I was losing her.

She was slipping away.

Her body stopped moving against mine and she simply stood limply in my arms, her arms hanging down her side. I stared at the clock as I continued holding her, neither of us moving.

_1 minute...2 minutes...3 minutes_

She pulled away from me and stared blankly at me, a slow smile crept onto her face and I knew it was a good bye smile.

I tried again though "Bella you and me that's all I want. Just us, no one else getting involved"

"What about Alice though? She loves you"

No Alice didn't but I didn't want to get into it right now "Bella we haven't been together since September and the _only_ reason I even went out with her was because she suggested that it'd help me win you over but it turns out she's just been manipulating me and lying to me to try and drive us apart"

She frowned in confusion and her brow furrowed "I don't get why she would do that though? It doesn't make any sense"

"Her parents said something about her having multiple personality disorder which was why they moved to Forks"

"Oh" was all Bella said.

"Yeah but I'm an idiot Bella for listening to her instead of just facing up and admitting to you how I felt" I didn't know why I'd put it off so long, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be...except for the fact that we're in an airport and she's trying to leave.

"I don't get it Jasper, why now, why wait till I'm leaving to come and tell me this? Oh wait, let me guess, you suddenly realised how much you loved me because I'm leaving" she sneered, her eyes narrowing.

"No Bella, shit no, I've felt like this since-"

"Let me guess, you've loved me since the day we met, it was love at first sight but you didn't realise it then, then you read the letter and realised that you loved me too and now you've come here to stop me. Like some fucking movie, great Jasper!" she said sarcastically.

"No Bella, I'm sorry but I can't lose you, I love you so much that the thought of you not being here physically hurts" I said going back to begging.

"Jasper, that's not the point, I get it, you love me, I love you, you don't want me to go, you want me to go back to Forks with you so we can have a happily ever after" she sighed "I want it to but it just wouldn't work Jasper, there's just too much bad history and just so much baggage that comes with us being together"

"Bella we can work through it, we can just give us a try"

"I want to Jasper, I want to so badly but I just don't trust you not to hurt me again, I just can't put myself into a position where you can damage me like that again, do you know what Rose said to me? She told me to get over you and that's what I'm trying to do but you, here, you're making it so much harder Jazz, please let me go. Let me leave" The words sliced through me like a blade.

"Bella, please don't do this" I could hear the desperation in my voice, feel it in my bones, I had no doubt that she could as well.

"Jazz, you know that saying about how if you love something you should let it go and if it's really yours it'll come back to you? Maybe you should let me go" she whispered her voice thick with tears.

"Bella, you're moving to Florida to get away from me"

"Remember that other saying if you really love someone then there happiness will be more important to you than yours"

"Bella you won't be happy though, I know you" I rationalised.

"I will be, happiness takes time" she whispered looking away again.

"Why are you lying to me again?" I demanded.

"What do you want Jasper? You don't understand I had finally got everything sorted, I'd said my good byes, got my stuff in order and everything because I thought you didn't love and now you're hear and everything I have ever dreamed about is coming true but it's also made me realise, these past months I dropped everything to help _you_, I've always done that, put _you _before _me_, dropped everything because _you_ and now you're trying to make me do the same thing" she stopped and blinked away the tears in her eyes before looking at me directly, I saw a flash of determination before she went on "I never said no to you before, I don't know why but I reckon it's because I was afraid to lose you, I guess I honestly believed that life, that my life was meaningless without you and I was scared that if I said no you'd replace me with someone else so I said yes to you always but no now Jasper, not today. I'm saying no Jasper, I won't go back to Forks now because that's not what _I_ want"

"Do you love me enough to stay? Is my love not enough to keep you here?" I murmured. She hesitated and I knew that I had lost. She really was going to leave, she was really going to leave me and there was nothing I could do about it. I had fucked up big time and apparently there was nothing I could do to fix it, to fix us.

I'd lost my Bella.

"I am so sorry Jazz but...but I can't stay here anymore, too much has happened, too much water under the bridge...I need a fresh start away from you. I don't know who I am anymore, these past few months everything I did was for you, even when I thought it was for me but now I'm going to do something for me, I _am_ doing something for me." she paused to look at the clock before turning to face me again "I love you so much Jazz, never doubt that, but if I stay we'll just keep on hurting each other. Like I said before all the bad stuff that's happened, it'll still be there like the pink elephant in the room and we'll keep skirting round it until one day in an argument one or both of us will bring it up and then what, we walk out on each other? What if we had kids, it'd destroy them and it's just better to end this now whilst it's only our lives involved"

"You don't honestly believe this do you?" I questioned incredulously.

"I do, I have to, it's going to stop me from walking into your arms and instead help me get on the plane"

She placed her hands on my cheeks and placed a soft kiss on my lips, I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her to me tightly, I knew I was crying but I couldn't find it in me to care. She smelt of strawberries and freesia like always. My Bella.

"I love you" I breathed desperately into her hair but I knew she could hear me "I'll love you forever"

"I'm sorry" she cried over and over again "I'm sorry I couldn't be more for you, I'm sorry I couldn't be stronger "

"Ssh, it's okay sweetie, it's okay"

She pulled away wiping furiously at her eyes "I have to leave, my flight"

"Please Bella" I begged one last time, holding on to that tiny bit of hope.

"I'm sorry Jazz, I have to leave, my flight"

I watched as she got herself together wiping at her eyes again, she said a quick goodbye but I pulled her back before she got lost in the crowd.

"I'll never give up on us Bella, I'll fix this" I promised her before letting go and watching as the crowd swallowed her up.

I stood watching where she'd gone despite the fact that I couldn't see her for another 5 minutes before turning and walking to the entrance. I wiped away my tears though I knew my eyes were probably still red, I clutched the letter in my pocket and remembered my promise to her.

One I intended to keep.

It wasn't hard to spot Emmet and Lily, a giant hulk of a man and a blonde goddess you could just see people avoiding them because they looked so intimidating. I so there heads straining, looking around for me and Bella. There were smiles on their faces and I guess it was because 45 minutes had gone by and if I wasn't back by now it must mean that I'd managed to convince her not to get on the plane, to at least hear me out.

Lily spotted me first and rush forward a smile on her face, before a look of confusion swept over her features and then devastation appeared. She asked a silent question with her eyes and I answered with a quick nod.

"Oh Jasper, I'm so sorry" she said hugging me. I pulled back shaking my head.

"I don't know why your apologising yet, I'm not giving up, I told her and now I'm telling you" I said determined.

"What do you mean?" Emmet asked joining the conversation.

"I mean I'm not letting Bella get away from me, not this time. This is my second chance and I'm taking it but first I need to get my guitar from the car and I'll brief you along the way" I said walking through the airport doors. The sun was out on one of those rare days but there was still a light chill in the air.

I walked to the car a spring in my step as I watched the elated expression appear on Lily's face as I told her what I wanted to do. Emmet's voice boomed with excitement and by the time we got to the car the details had been worked out.

I was going to fix this.

**So what do you guys think of this. My longest chapter yet, I quite enjoyed writing from JPOV and I hope you enjoy reading it. R&R**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	33. Chapter 33

**Hello again guys, thanks for all the reviews and everyone who has supported the story so far. I have recently been informed that Runaway Love has been entered into the C2 Non-Canon Love so yay!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Chapter 33**

_Left right, left right_

I had to keep moving, I couldn't stop because I knew if I did I'd turn around and run straight into the arms of Jasper. It was like a dream come true, everything I'd ever wanted was there and I said no.

I mean when you say it like that it sounds really stupid like what the hell is wrong with you? I'm wondering the same thing, and then I remember all the hurt and pain and agony he put me through. How he made me feel second choice and how I lost myself in his shadow. That kept me moving, gave me the strength to take myself out of his arms and get onto the plane.

The journey seemed to take forever except it seemed just as short, it didn't matter to me anyway considering I spent most of it either crying or sketching out images of Jasper. My favourite one was of him when he was asleep, he looked so innocent, so vulnerable, and he looked like _my _Jasper.

Phil met me at the airport and we drove home in silence, I could tell he wanted to talk but thankfully he didn't push it. I stared out the window for the duration of the ride, the contrast between here and Forks was startling, in Forks everywhere was green and alive but here...well I couldn't really see the green.

The sun glared at me in the car and once again I was reminding of the lack of sun in Forks and once again I was fighting off the tears. Jasper's words to me kept playing over and over again in my head.

_I__'ll never give up on us Bella, I'll fix this_

What did he mean he'll fix this? How could he fix this, way too much has happened there was no way we could ever be fixed, could we?

_No_

I had to stop thinking like that there was no way we could ever be more, at the moment our friendship was hanging on the line, anything more would destroy us. I sighed tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. Was I being completely stupid by moving in with my mum? Could Jasper and I really be together? Had I just blown my chance?

I was so confused, I'm pretty sure most of the girls around the world would call me an idiot for what I just did and the worst part was that I'd hurt him like he'd hurt me and the pain I felt, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy yet here I was inflicting it on the boy I loved.

_Love._

I still loved Jasper, in fact I was sure I loved him more than ever now but I don't trust him not to hurt me again, at least not at the moment. My feelings still felt so raw when it concerned Jasper. I sent a quick text to my dad saying I was on my way to my mums and I idly wondered how Jasper and Rose's meeting had gone.

Then another thought hit me. How had Jasper known I was at the airport? I assumed he read my letter but all it said was that I was leaving but not when I was leaving. Had Rose told him? No she wouldn't have done that after she was rooting so hard for me to leave him.

Then how had he known?

Thoughts flew around my mind as did a list of people:

Edward

Amy

Charlotte

Rose

Charlie

Who would have told him though? Charlotte was my best bet but he had school, I groaned and saw Phil flash me a sympathetic look, I smiled weakly at him before staring out the window again. I felt so lost without him; it felt strange considering I thought I was lost before.

I thought of Jasper, his eyes, his smile and I wondered how I would go on without him and as cliché as it sounded he lit up my world, my heart stopped and horror flashed in my eyes. What had I done? Had I really left him and his love behind? Had I really left my life behind all because of...because of what I wondered.

A fresh start, a chance to move on from him but I doubted I'd ever get over Jasper, I doubted my feelings for him would ever lessen. I doubted my heart would ever stop beating for him. I heard somewhere that you never truly got over your first love, well that was something I could definitely agree with.

We arrived home and Phil told me that Phil would be home soon. He helped me take my stuff up to my new room and left me to unpack. I looked around, it was a lot bigger than my room in Forks with it's on en suite and walk in wardrobe, the bed was queen sized and there was a flat screen TV on the wall and a laptop on the desk with a bright red bow around it.

I smiled, it was definitely Renee's doing, she was so sweet and here I was, doubting coming here, I could be happy here, build a new life. Change my name, instead of Bella I could be Izzy or something. No one knew me here, no one knew my past.

I wanted to unpack, I really did but I couldn't bring myself to, it just made everything seem so final, ending one life and beginning a new one. I sighed and brought out a change of clothes and my shower stuff.

_Strawberry._

I showered quickly washing my hair and skin before dressing in sweats and a tank top. I towel dried my hair before tying it into a ponytail. I slipped the bracelet Renee gave me on and grabbed Wuthering Heights flipping it onto a random page to begin reading. After staring at the same page for at least 30 minutes I heard the sound of a door shutting and went down to see Renee.

"Bella" she squealed pulling me to her in a tight hug "Oh Bella you're here, how was your flight? How are _you?_" she said pulling back.

"I'm fine mum, really, my flight was fine" I answered plastering a smile on my face.

"If you're sure" she replied uncertainly "Have you eaten, Nessie and I picked up some stuff from the shops so tonight we can do a make your own pizza night but for now I can fix you up a fruit salad or something"

"I'm okay mum, I think I'll just grab an apple, I've still got a lot of unpacking to do" I lied, I had no intention of doing any unpacking today or anytime soon.

"Ok" she beamed "Nessie say hello to your sister" I crouched down to her height.

"Hey Ness, how are you sweetie?" I smiled, I really did love her, she was so cute, wide expressive eyes, beautiful hair, she was going to be a heart breaker when she was older.

"Hewwo Bewwa" she replied.

We then had a short conversation whilst mum made her a little snack or as much of a conversation as we could have.

I grabbed my apple and went upstairs to continue my poor attempts to read Wuthering Heights. After giving up an hour later I lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling the ceiling, thinking, contemplating, this couldn't be my life. Where had it all gone wrong, where had I messed up? Was I really doing the right thing by basically running away again and right in the middle of my senior year? Then again I might be able to just blend in at school as it wouldn't be as small as Forks one.

I fired off a text to Rose telling her I was here and then I got a notebook and a pen, sat down and began writing. I came here for a fresh start, to re discover who I am and that's exactly what I was going to, I couldn't let Jasper's heart break in vain despite his promise that he'll fix this.

Name: Isabella Marie Swan

D.O.B: September 13th

Age: 17

Hobbies:

I paused here thinking, what were my hobbies, what did I honestly like doing with my time when I wasn't with Jasper or thinking of Jasper. What did I do before I met Jasper and he began consuming my life, I honestly didn't remember.

Hobbies: Drawing, Reading, Playing Guitar

Favourite song:

Once again I had to think of the answer, I honestly couldn't decide but then the words of a song got me thinking.

_When you're gone_

_Will I lose control?_

_You're the only road I know_

_You show me where to go_

_Who will drive my soul?_

Drive My Soul by LIGHTS, the song seemed oddly fitting and I filled it in as my favourite song adding in brackets for the moment.

Favourite Colour:

At the moment it was blue and that's what I wrote down.

I couldn't think of anything else to write so I put the pen down and went to look out the window, I missed the sound of the rain beating down on the roof, I missed all the green, and I missed Forks.

My eyes welled up with tears and I bit my lip till I tasted blood to stop them from falling. I moved back to the bed and fell asleep. I woke about 3 hours later. I grabbed my phone and ear phones before brushing my teeth in the bathroom and wandering downstairs.

"Mum" I called out. "Mum" I went again not hearing a reply. I peeked in the living room and saw no one. "Phil" I tried calling but I was simply met with the silence of an empty house. I went round the house looking for someone or some sign of where they went before giving up and sitting on a stool in the kitchen.

My stomach grumbled a little and I realised I hadn't eaten in hours. I rummaged through the cupboards and found some cereal before putting it back and going in search for something sweeter. Eventually I found some cookies I liked and after looking in the freezer I found some ice cream to eat with it. I parked myself in front of the television to watch one of those lame shows that make you laugh to till you cry.

When I went to the kitchen to wash my plate I found a note stuck to the toaster, I don't know why I didn't notice it before or even why it was stuck to the toaster I was just glad that there was some indication of where they went.

Bella,

Come meet me at the park when you wake up, it is around the corner, and you can't miss it. I am there with Nessie.

Love Renee

I frowned wondering why but went upstairs to get dressed to go meet her. She was right I couldn't miss it because there was a giant sign indicating that it was indeed a park. I walked through the gates looking for Renee but couldn't seem to find her then I tensed.

Have you ever got that feeling someone was watching you, well that was how I felt in that moment except it was something more, sparks went through me and I couldn't help the smile that lit up my face.

I turned around and came face to face with Jasper holding a white flower. He walked up to me smiling hesitantly and tucked it behind my ear before lifting my chin and leaning in to kiss me.

"I promised you I'd fix this" he breathed.

**JPOV**

I was going to fix this but first I needed a little bit of help, which was where Lily and Emmett came in. You see the thing is I plan on chasing Bella to Florida not to force her or to try and guilt her into coming back but to give her that fresh start she wanted. I could kind of see where she was coming from and the more I thought about it the more the idea seemed to make some kind of sense.

Our relationship has been quite destructive and the effects on her were terrible, I was going to give her that fresh start she wanted _but _that didn't mean I was just going to give her up. She'd get a fresh start and some space but I'd let her know I was still there.

We drove back to Forks whilst I told Emmett and Lily what information I was trying to get out of the Chief, I mean I could go by myself but the Chief did seem to have taken a liking to Emmett and Lily if what Lily told me was anything to go by.

The journey back wasn't as bad or long considering Emmett gunned the engine and soon enough we were pulling up outside of there house. I was the first out of the car and was knocking on the door soon enough. Charlie opened the door and his usual expression expressed the shock at seeing me as well as some guilt.

"Hello Jasper, what brings you here?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Chief I need your help, it's an emergency" Immediately he stood up straighter and his face took up a worried look.

"What happened Jasper?"

"You see the thing is, I messed up really badly with Bella and I just, I love her and I can't live without her, I went to the airport and before she left I promised her I'd fix this and I can't do this without your help" I pleaded.

"You went to the airport?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah" Lily interjected "and he's got this great plan but he can't do this without your help Charlie" It wasn't exactly true that I couldn't do it without his help, I could but it would just take longer.

"How do I know you won't just mess her around again? You crushed her before"

"I know" I said shamefaced.

"Come inside" he said to us and began walking towards the living room "Do you remember Jasper when I asked you what your intentions were with Bella?"

"Yeah" I answered.

"Do you remember what you said?" he asked looking at me with a strange expression.

"I plan on making her my best friend for life"

"and when I said that's all you said that's all, well I'm going to help you Jasper, you deserve love and so does Bella but if you hurt her again, I will make your life hell in Forks" he said fiercely.

"Yes sir, good. Now what did you want?" he asked.

"Her mums address and number" he nodded his head thoughtfully before going upstairs for a while and coming downstairs with a piece of paper.

"Here you go Jasper, don't mess it up, okay"

"Okay, thanks sir" I said before Lily, Emmett and I left.

As we stepped outside Lily looked at me thoughtfully before speaking "What's next Jasper?"

"I need to get my passport. Some clothes and then we can leave" I said. We got in the car and drove to my house, when I got inside, I gave my mum a brief run down of my plan whilst grabbing my passport and clothes. Soon enough we were on the road again. We got to the airport and got our tickets and from then on it was a waiting game.

Waiting to get on the plane.

Waiting for the plane to get off.

Waiting for the plane to reach Florida.

Waiting for the plane to land.

Stepping out of that plane I never knew I could be so happy to see the ground. I suggested getting a cab but Lily suggested we stop in a cafe for drinks, food and to go over what we were going to do now.

"Right Jasper, do you really think going over to Bella's mum's house and confronting her will be enough" Lily said.

"No I was going to try and explain as well"

"No what I mean is don't you think she might avoid you and trust me avoidance is something Bella is really good at"

"Good point" I said sighing.

"How about this, call her mum first and explain everything to her because from what Bella's said about her, she's a believer of love and what not" Emmett interjected.

"Good idea babe" Lily said smiling at him. I got up and moved away from them, I took the paper from my pocket and dialled the number on the sheet.

"Hello" said a voice on the other end.

"Hi, this is Jasper; umm you might not remember me-"

"Oh Jasper, of course I remember you, such a handsome boy I always wondered why you and Bella never got together" she said thoughtfully.

"Actually what's why I'm calling right now, you see the thing is, I love Bella and I want to be with her but I need your help, first things first is she near you?" I asked.

"No she's upstairs sleeping, I just checked on her, she's so sweet when she sleeps but she was talking as usual" she paused giggling "She kept saying your name"

"Ok, is there anywhere near your house that she can meet me?" I asked.

"Come to think of it there's a park around the corner, if you want I can leave a note telling her to meet me there when she wakes up, will that be okay?" she asked.

"You read my mind" I said smiling. A feeling of hope entered my chest.

"Ok bye for now Jasper, when you and Bella have finished patching up you should come round, it's make your own pizza night"

"I'd love to" we said our goodbye's and I sat back down opposite Lily and Emmett. "What did she say then?" asked Lily impatiently.

"She's agreed, she's left a note for Bella to read that will tell her where to go" I stopped thinking of what I needed to do next "We need to go to a florists now, to get that flower"

"Okay" they agreed. We hailed a cab and they drove us to the florists. Luckily they had the flower I wanted. It was called the Star of Bethlehem and it meant hope.

I smiled thinking of Bella; I couldn't wait to be with her again, to hold her, to kiss her, to feel the silky softness of her skin. I missed her so much and I honestly hoped that today I'd win her back, that today I'd get my world back because that's what she was, my world.

We got to the park but we never knew when Bella would get here, so we hid somewhere that gave us an excellent view of the entrance, after about an hour or two of waiting Rosalie and Emmett went to get some food leaving me alone.

I kept my eyes glued to the entrance but after a moment my eyes were drawn to the flower in my hand, it was beautiful, pure and white like Bella. It was beautiful like Bella, I looked up and I was certain that I could see Bella. I smiled and walked over to her even though she couldn't see me.

She turned around in that moment and smiled at me. I tucked the flower behind her ear and leaning down to kiss her I whispered "I promised you I'd fix this" before kissing her. Her lips felt as soft as always, I pulled away quickly not wanting to over step any boundaries.

"Swings?"I asked pointing in their direction. She nodded her agreement and we began walking in their direction.

She sat down on one and I gently began pushing her before taking a seat on the one next to her, we were silent for a while before I finally opened my mouth.

"Hi" I said.

"Hi" she replied looking at me.

"I'm Jasper Whitlock" I said offering her my hand to shake. She glanced at my hand confused before looking at me.

"Jasper..." she began but I stopped her by putting a finger to her lips.

"Bella you wanted a fresh start and I'm going to give that to you but that doesn't mean I want out of your life completely. Can we start over?" I pleaded.

"I dunno Jasper, I really don't-" then she paused looking at me although it was as though she wasn't really looking at me.

"Hi I'm Isabella Swan but everyone calls me Bella" she said suddenly shaking my hand.

"So Bella what brings you to Jacksonville?" I asked smiling. She was going to play along; we were going to fix this.

**BPOV**

He had followed me here. Jasper, the boy of my dreams, the love of my life had followed me here. He still loved me despite the fact that I left. We stayed in the park for a few hours talking as though we had only just met, we didn't bring up the events that brought us to where we were but I knew we would...one day.

Our conversation was really light, we talked about our favourite things, favourite child hood memories and so on and for once I felt true hope, that one day we could get past this and be together. In the evening he walked me back to my mum's house and kissed me goodbye on the cheek and only as I watched him walk away that he was wearing the same clothes.

The next day he picked me up and took me out to lunch. Eventually we ended up at the park and he played me a song on it.

_The lightening bolt hit me so hard,_

_I never knew it was possible to feel this way,_

_The moment that I laid eyes on you,_

_Once was blind,_

_Now I see,_

_Oh baby,_

_You and me_

_She was standing there_

_Dressed to the nines_

_Beautiful long hair_

_And she looked divine_

_I took a step towards her_

_And I thought she took one back_

_I told myself no sir_

_It's time my heart unpacked_

The rest of the song was just as beautiful, afterwards he told me I inspired the song and it brought me to tears, he told me not to cry and handed me another flower. He told me it was a Hibiscus and meant delicate beauty which made me almost want to cry again.

He stayed in Florida for a week and gave me a flower every single one of those days, I had all of them dried and I put them in Wuthering Heights. He emailed me every day and called when he could, we spent a lot of time texting as well and it made starting a new school easier.

I stayed in Florida for Christmas but spent New Years in Forks. Charlotte threw a party and everyone came, the teens however snuck over to my house and had a mini party in the garden. As the clock counted down Jasper whispered several promises to me, one being to marry me when we finished college and as the clock ticked down to one he kissed me and we said goodbye to the pain and heart aches of the past year and looked to the future with a smile.

I laid my head over his heart and listened to the beats, he was my Jasper and he was here with me. We were all celebrating different things but I think the biggest thing was Rose's assailant Royce was finally caught.

Jasper eventually put two and two together after remembering what Alice's parents had told him, he confronted them and eventually with the help of Rose's dad they tracked him down. They still had the samples taken all those years ago but they also found that though was the only and youngest girl he'd raped, he's sexually assaulted several others and was sentenced to a very long prison sentence seeing as how they all stepped forward to testify. The judge was shocked that he hadn't been caught yet considering there was such a large amount of evidence against him. I had never seen Jasper as happy as he was that day we left the court house and I saw something that had been missing from him before, peace.

I smiled and leaned back to look at him, he was watching Edward and Emmett wrestle but glanced down when he noticed me watching.

"What?" he asked a grin appearing on his face.

"I love you Jasper"

"I love _you_ Bella"

"Forever?" I asked entwining our fingers.

"Forever" he breathed before his lips met mine in a gentle kiss.

Forever, I liked the sound of that.

**Okay guys just one more chapter which will be the epilogue and that will be the end. What did you think of this chapter though? R&R**

_**~The Sunny Days~**_


	34. Epilogue

**Well this is it guys, the last chapter. Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me through this and everyone who has reviewed or added this story to favourites or alert. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything Twilight related**

**Now on with the story!**

**Runaway Love**

**Epilogue**

"I still can't believe that you and Jasper are going on a road trip" Rose squealed excitedly beside me.

"Yeah neither can I" I sighed dreamily. Ever since New Years things had just been getting better, I finished High School in Phoenix and flew to Tennessee to meet up with Rose and Emmett, a week later Jasper flew down to meet up with us.

"Promise me that you'll stay in touch and that you'll at least _try_ not to get arrested or something" she said folding up a couple more tops.

"I promise Rose, but it's not as though we're going to do anything illegal" I said flopping down on the bed.

"Where are you guys going again?"

"Umm Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia basically the whole summers ours we just need to get to Florida in August to see my mum and that's it really"

"I'm really gonna miss you Bella, you better send a million pictures, daily" she warned grabbing her duffle bag.

"I'm gonna miss you too but that sounds a lot like homework and at the moment I just want to enjoy being homework free" I grabbed a couple of boxes and we walked downstairs and out the doors to the cars where the boys were mucking around.

I paused to take in Jasper, his lean body was taut and tanned, his hair was long enough that he could tie it in a ponytail and his eyes sparkled happily with laughter. They turned when Rose cleared her throat and Jasper groaned when he caught sight of the boxes in my arms but you could see the smile on his face.

"How much stuff do you really need Bella?" he asked taking them from me and putting them in the boot of his car.

"It's not like I'm taking all of it Jasper, remembering we're stopping off at my mum's at some point and I'm going to drop some stuff off when we get there"

"Yeah but still" he moaned "There won't be any space in the backseat" he grinned mischievously.

"Take your mind out the gutter Jasper" I laughed. A light breeze blew and ruffled my hair; I pulled the elastic from around my wrist and tied it in a low ponytail.

"I just meant that there might not be any room in the backseat for...souvenirs. Plus how would you know what I meant if you didn't have a dirty mind as well" he said wrapping his arms around my waist and putting his chin on my shoulder. He kissed me on the neck before going back to the car.

"Aww Bells, look at you all grown up" Emmett teased "When you guys get to Florida call us and we'll fly down so we can spend a couple of days there down by the coast 'okay?"

Across the road we could see a couple of guys mucking around trying to get the attention of the girl who was lounging on the steps next door, they had a hose and were getting themselves wet whilst passing around a football. One of the boys though stared longingly at her and she looked at him briefly and offered what looked like a smile before going inside.

"Hey, I'm gonna go get some snacks, I'll be back in like half an hour" Jasper said getting in the car with Emmett.

"We'll be here" Rose answered before they drove off.

We went back into the house and brought the few remaining bags out and Rose double checked to make sure that we hadn't left anything of importance. We went through the fridge and threw away anything that would expire within the next month.

"So Rose apart from working on your tan, what are you and Emmett going to do?" I asked taking a bit of my cookie.

"Umm actually I'm going to go visit my parents, Emmett really wants to meet them and well...I haven't seen them in ages. I've been talking to my mum and she thinks she's pregnant, she's pretty psyched about it but she said she isn't going find out for sure until I get there so we're flying there first"

"Wow, have fun I guess and good luck" I added squeezing her shoulder.

It was weird thinking that we were going to be separated for so long, I mean we were going to meet up at random points but still it was strange but I couldn't wait for some alone time with Jasper. Things had been great with us; I guess some distance was kind of what we needed. We talked most days and emailed and texted each other. Every morning and evening he would send me a quirky little text that either made me laugh out loud or made my heart melt.

"You'll visit me right, in New York, I mean if you can" Rose rambled.

"You know I would, plus it'd be fun, I've never been to Ohio before"

The sound of a car outside made us start and we quickly got up and went outside to meet them. Emmett came out with a bag of goodies and put it in the next car before quickly going inside to grab his jacket.

"So you ready?" he asked Rose.

"Yeah" she answered. He grabbed her hand and gave it a little squeeze, before smiling at her. She walked towards me and enveloped me in a hug.

"Have a great summer Bella, you deserve it"

"You too Rose" I said hugging her back. "Love you"

"Love you too" Emmet swung me into a great hug then made sure that I had some pepper spray on me.

"Take care Bells" they said their goodbyes to Jasper and got in the car and drove off. It was strange watching their car drive into the distance gradually getting smaller until it disappeared in the distance. I went to the house and locked the door.

"I guess that leaves us two then" Jasper said appearing next to me.

"I guess it does, ready?" I asked smiling brightly.

"Yeah" he stepped forward and pulled me into a hug. "This is gonna be the best summer ever"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah"

"I love you" I said reaching up on my tiptoes to plant a kiss on his lips.

"I love you too but now we gotta go" he said ushering me into the car.

He began driving and soon the house was a black dot in the distance. I turned round in my seat and grinned at Jasper, he looked at me before turning his eyes back to the road. Reaching over he grabbed my hand and ran his thumb in soothing circles.

"So where to Bella Kentucky or Arkansas?"

"I don't know let's just drive and see where it goes, take it one day at a time or something"

"Sound like a plan to me" he said smiling.

And that's our love story, it's not perfect and it's definitely far from over but that's love isn't it learning to love an imperfect perfectly.

So far the year had been great, I thought settling in my seat and taking a sip of Jasper drink but I had a feeling that the next year was going to be even better.

**THE END**


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